So how is that any different from modern technology? -- B. Clay Shannon [log in to unmask] > On Mar 11, 2018, at 7:17 PM, Kevin Mac Donnell <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > 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 > 9307 Glenlake Drive > Austin TX 78730 > 512-345-4139 > Member: ABAA, ILAB > ************************* > You may browse our books at: > www.macdonnellrarebooks.com > > > -----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