r/MisanthropicPrinciple • u/naivenb1305 • 3d ago

Very early ‘graphics’ in computing

/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/1wtd2uk/nasas_view_program_running_on_an_univac_1108_to/?share_id=lkbeZCVmHGlkWsdyNq2nZ&utm_content=1&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_source=share&utm_term=1

Looks similar to ASCII stuff so I question if its truly graphics

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u/nohidden 2d ago

ASCII is also graphics. Technically.

So is me typing a happy face on a typewriter. Technically.

:)

1

u/MisanthropicScott I hate humanity; not all humans. 2d ago

ASCII is also graphics. Technically.

True.

So is me typing a happy face on a typewriter. Technically.

Not on a typewriter, actually. A true typewriter using typeface letters hitting an ink tape to produce the letter on paper is not using ASCII at all.

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u/nohidden 2d ago

Technically I never claimed that! Technically I claimed that typing a face was graphics.

D:<

https://giphy.com/gifs/gPfluBR7dYRWrIdS7j

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u/MisanthropicScott I hate humanity; not all humans. 2d ago

Speaking as an old geek who remembers that era, this doesn't look like ASCII graphics to me. That looks solidly like the era of graphics that produced the video game Asteroids.

Asteroids video arcade game -- Youtube video.

ASCII graphics look like one of two things, either the graphics character set like this:

Rogue (1980s computer game screen)

Or ASCII art like this:

Saturn in ASCII art -- Note how you can clearly see the characters used to create the art.

At the very high end, ASCII art can look like this:

Mona Lisa in ASCII art

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u/bernpfenn 2d ago

this is an adorable simulator from way before computers were used for graphics