golf-ball printer

1 definition found

golf-ball printer - Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003) :

  golf-ball printer
   n. obs.
  
     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. The print element spun
     and jerked alarmingly in action and when in motion was sometimes
     described as an infuriated 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.