Wirt, you're alive!!! Good to hear from you. 8-)
Raymond Shahan
Information Systems
REPUBLIC TITLE OF TEXAS, INC.
2701 W Plano Parkway
Plano, TX 75075
direct 214.556.0202
main 972.578.8611
fax 972.424.5621
www.republictitle.com
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Life is not a journey to the grave with the
intention of arriving safely in a pretty and
well preserved body, but rather to skid in
broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out,
and loudly proclaiming:
-- WOW!!! What a Ride!!!
-----Original Message-----
From: HP-3000 Systems Discussion [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Wirt Atmar
Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2007 4:30 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [HP3000-L] HP Escape Sequences
Neil asks:
> Anyone remember the original LaserJet and what the product name was?
:D
It was the LaserJet 500, also known as the HP 2686A. It was introduced
in 1984
as a substitute for the Xerox Diablo 630, which we were then using with
our word
processing terminal, the System 2000, which we constructed from HP 2649A
OEM-able terminals.
See:
http://aics-research.com/aicsart/sys2000a.jpg
http://aics-research.com/aicsart/sys2000b.jpg
http://aics-research.com/aicsart/sys2000c.jpg
http://aics-research.com/aicsart/sys2000d.jpg
I went down to the newly-moved HP El Paso office (it was previously here
in Las
Cruces, just a few blocks from us) to see the grand unveiling of HP's
new
printer, their first laser-based device. Its introduction was of obvious
great
interest to us. We would very much liked to have replaced the Diablo
630s we
were using.
When I came back from the introduction, I told Valerie that Benjamin
Franklin
would have considered the machine a step backwards. Not only was the
device
expensive, they simply scanned in images of the various characters for
each of
the fonts, so the output was beyond ratty and wholly unacceptable.
The Apple LaserWriter had been introduced a little earlier and its
output was
magnificent, but it was expensive. The LaserWriter used the
then-brand-new
graphic description language, PostScript, and that was a good portion of
its
cost.
To mitigate that cost, about a year later, HP chose the Imagen DDL page
description language in order to compete with the PostScript-based
LaserWriter,
and that caused me to begin my first campaign to get HP to change its
mind. I
called everyone I could find at HP, but those were the days that HP
simply blew
off users' comments.
HP nevertheless committed itself to their decision and resolutely stayed
with
Imagen DDL for about a year before they generated the first version of
the
printer PCL language, which as everyone has said, was built from the HP
terminal
escape sequences. It wasn't PostScript. In fact, it wasn't even close,
but it
was cheap, and cheap has its own merits. The HP LaserJet series
prospered, while
the Apple LaserWriters never really went anywhere.
Wirt
Wirt Atmar
AICS Research, Inc.
PO Box 4691
University Park, NM 88003-4691
(800) AICS-INC
(575) 524-9800
(575) 526-4700 fax
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