[ISEA2004] Paper: Nick Montfort – Continuous Paper: Print interfaces and early computer writing

Abstract

The computer is often equated with the screen, but CRTs were not widely used in early computing. Punch cards, teletypewriters, and print terminals were used in the development of the first computer gaming, art, and literary systems. The nature of these interfaces influenced this early work.

  • Nick Montfort (USA), a new media author, critic, and theorist, is now studying for a Ph.D. in computer and information science at the University of Pennsylvania. He is author of Twisty Little Passages: An Approach to Interactive Fiction (MIT Press, 2003) and co-editor, with Noah Wardrip-Fruin, of The New Media Reader (MIT Press, 2003). He has written and programmed interactive fiction, including Ad Verbum (2000) and Winchester’s Nightmare (1999). His collaborations with William Gillespie include The Ed Report and 2002: A Palindrome Story (Spineless Books, 2002), acknowledged by the Oulipo as the world’s longest literary palindrome. Currently, he is writing the novel Implementation with Scott Rettberg. Montfort is a director of the Electronic Literature Organization. nickm.com

Full text (PDF) p. 26-29