Why is everything ORANGE?
Short answer: If you have to ask, well, you're probably not a PLATO person :-)
Long answer: For years many of the terminals connected to the PLATO system had
flat-panel "gas plasma" displays, and the light emitted in the monochrome pixels
of gas plasma displays was... orange!
Who owns and runs this site? Who's the webmaster?
Brian Dear, that's me. For contact info, use the link at the top.
I have a background in PLATO, CBT, CAI, user-interface design,
usability, software design and development, editing, writing,
and am a member of the Society for the History of Technology and
the Association of Internet Researchers.
How do I buy a copy of the book?
The book's in development still. I don't know when it'll be out.
When will the book be finished?
No idea, frankly. I hope in 2007. I'm planning to put my findings and stories
online first. Stay tuned for details.
How much information have you gathered while researching so far?
Book sources include: over 4 million words of typed transcripts from about 500 hours' of recorded
interviews, plus many thousands of emails, plus hundreds (maybe thousands, I've lost
count) of other materials including magazine and newspaper articles,
books, documents, pamplets, videos, photographs, and brochures.
Why are you writing this book?
Because there has never been a trade nonfiction book written about PLATO, the culture that surrounded it,
and the innovations and people that were involved with it. It's a fascinating story that's never been told.
And it's time to set the record
straight, once and for all.
What's the story behind the photographs on the homepage?
From left to right, starting on the top row:
1. Screen shot from a portion of a "plato off" page showing an operator walking
up to the switch of the mainframe, ready to turn it "off".
2. The CERL PLATO mainframe room.
3. Donald Bitzer (on couch) speaking with Jim Perry (?). That's Paul Tenczar's hand in the far left :-).
4. Source code printout of EMPIRE, signed by Gene Roddenberry.
Middle row, left to right:
1. Donald Bitzer
2. Close-up of the famous Fruit Fly lesson
3. Steve Freyder, David Woolley, Jim Bowery (L to R)
4. CERL building
Bottom photo: Susan Rankaitis, David "PLATO" Frankel, Lynda Parkinson.
Will you write my homework/thesis/dissertation for me?
I barely have enough time to do my own research let alone the research for others. So, sorry, I cannot
help you with that paper you're writing on PLATO. I will provide a full bibliography and end-notes when the
book comes out, and I hope this aids future researchers in exploring the PLATO story further.
More questions and answers will be added over time. But for now... back to work...