Colossal Typewriter by John McCarthy and Roland Silver was one of the earliest computer text editors.[1] The program ran on the PDP-1 at Bolt, Beranek and Newman (BBN) by December 1960.[2][3]

Colossal Typewriter
Original author(s)John McCarthy and Roland Silver
Initial release1960
PlatformPDP-1 and possibly TX-0
TypeText editor
WebsitePDP-1 Restoration Project

About this time, both authors were associated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but it is unclear whether the editor ran on the TX-0 on loan to MIT from Lincoln Laboratory or on the PDP-1 donated to MIT in 1961 by Digital Equipment Corporation. A "Colossal Typewriter Program" is in the BBN Program Library,[2] and, under the same name, in the DECUS Program Library as BBN- 6 (CT).[4]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Eric Fischer (15 November 2000). Re: emacs and other editors. alt.folklore.computers (Google link). Retrieved on 24 June 2006
  2. ^ a b Eric Fischer (17 May 1999). CYHIST Community Memory: Discussion List on the History of Cyberspace[permanent dead link]. Fischer quotes a 1964 citation by William R. Nugent
  3. ^ Computer History Museum. Colossal Typewriter Program (CT), 1960 (archived). Retrieved 02 May 2022.
  4. ^ DECUS number 71 (June 1968) DECUS PDP-1 Program Library Catalog