I very much like that analogy, Kevin.

Thanks,

Carl

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Kevin Mac Donnell
Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2018 10:18 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Paige Typesetter

The machine worked just fine, but only for a few hours at a time. See my
review of Richard Hopkins' book on it for some good leads and references. 
Hopkins is an expert in 19th and early 20th century printing technologies
and has the best understanding of the Paige compositor from an engineering
standpoint. He is fully capable of getting the one surviving example back in
working order, and has a basement full of working antique printing
machinery.

The Mergenthaler (linotype) approached type-setting in a manner that was
counter-intuitive and did not attempt to precisely replicate the process
previously performed by human hands, but it worked and was reliable for
extended periods of time. The Paige compositor tried to replicate each step
previously performed by humans, which appealed to Twain's intuitive sense
and also aligned with his personal experiences as a type-setter, but it was
a failure as a reliable technical or mechanical device. Using a modern
analogy, perhaps think of it this way: Would you rather sit in the driver's
seat of a self-driving car with automatic sensors at the front back and
sides that automatically steers, accelerates and brakes--or, would you
prefer to sit in the passenger seat while a robot shaped like a human sits
in the driver's seat operating the controls with mechanical arms and legs
with all of its sensors in its robotic head that constantly swivels around
"reading" the road, the rear-view mirror, the speedometer, etc.? Twain chose
the latter, and it wrecked.

Kevin
@
Mac Donnell Rare Books
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Austin TX 78730
512-345-4139
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-----Original Message-----
From: Carl J. Chimi
Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2018 6:50 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Paige Typesetter

I'm just reading the section of the recent edition of the Autobiography in
which Clemens discusses to some extent his perception of how the typesetter
worked.  His description is valuable, not only because he had considerable
experience as a compositor, but also to show how he could have been so taken
by the machine as to invest so heavily in it.

I've read descriptions of the machine that range from roughly "hopelessly
incapable of the task" to "hopelessly complex given the task".  I've seen it
depicted in the 1940s biopic as a truly silly and ridiculous device.  I
believe I even saw some version of the actual machine in the basement of the
Hartford house the first time I visited back in late 1972.  Nothing like the
Rube Goldberg thing in the movie.  Not being an expert, but being
mechanically inclined, I remember the machine I saw as "plausible".

All this has me wondering if anyone has ever written a study of the
technical aspects of the machine.  How it worked.  How it perhaps drew on
and related to other technology of that period.  That Clemens said such a
machine would have to "think" is fascinating, and makes me wonder how Paige
created something that did apparently work and did, apparently, give the
illusion of "thinking".

I figure if anyone has written on this topic, this is the forum that would
know about it.

Thanks,

Carl
Grandfather of Olivia