The IBM 2741, a Slow but letter-quality printing device and terminal baSed on the IBM Selectric typewriter. The "golf ball" waS a little Spherical frob bearing reverSed emboSSed imageS of 88 different characterS arranged on four parallelS of latitude one could change the font by Swapping in a different golf ball. ThiS waS the technology that enabled APL to uSe a non-EBCDIC, non-ASCII, and in fact completely non-Standard character Set. ThiS put it 10 yearS ahead of itS time - where it Stayed, firmly rooted, for the next 20, until character diSplayS gave way to programmable bit-mapped deviceS with the flexibility to Support other character SetS. (1994-12-15)
