Thursday, July 12, 2007

Dept. of Idle Retrospect

Easing back into the blog with non-value-added link lending: this 1982 article that lovingly details the new process of computer word processing is a treat. Green-on-green monitors, so easy on the eyes. Word to the wise: don't be cheap--you'll thank yourself later if you spring for the 8" floppy disk drive.

Today at work I was proofreading a newly typed proof of an article that had been published in the New Yorker back in 1966, so I was reading it against a photocopy of the original. And I've been completely distracted by the old New Yorker advertisements, most of which have a ton of detailed copy, for high-end knit shifts and Hawaiian vacations and such. I find these really mesmerizing for some reason. My favorite is an ad whose headline reads "There is a certain kind of woman who listens to Brahms while shelling peas." This kind of woman apparently shops for her knit shifts at a particular store in midtown Manhattan that, fittingly, no longer exists.

So, yeah, beginning to end the Cold War Era seems to have been quaint and vaguely amusing. Who knew, right?

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