# Proto-laptop computer in "The Paper Chase" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 15, 2010, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proto-laptop-computer-in-the-paper-chase/564191 "2010-12-15T03:00:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proto-laptop-computer-in-the-paper-chase/564191/1 "2010-12-15T03:00:26Z")
I watched “The Paper Chase” last night and in an early scene (shortly after the first study group meeting), Hart is visiting Ford’s room - and in the room is a device that looks like a wireless keyboard. Obviously it’s not, since the movie is from the early 1970’s, but does anyone know what it might be - my best guess is some sort of stenography device that Ford is using to take notes with (it’s clearly not a conventional typewriter). I note that Ford is rich enough to be able to get something that ordinary students might not have access to. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proto-laptop-computer-in-the-paper-chase/564191/2 "2010-12-15T04:39:59Z")
Without seeing it, something like a shorthand typewriter? Like a court clerk might use? > **[Stenotype](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stenotype)** > > A steno machine, stenotype machine, shorthand machine, stenograph or steno writer is a specialized chorded keyboard or typewriter used by stenographers for shorthand use. In order to pass the United States Registered Professional Reporter test, a trained court reporter or closed captioner must write speeds of approximately 180, 200, and 225 words per minute (wpm) at very high accuracy in the categories of literary, jury charge, and testimony, respectively. Some stenographers can reach 300 word Th... > **[How does a court reporter machine work?](https://www.straightdope.com/21342585/how-does-a-court-reporter-machine-work)** > > A STAFF REPORT FROM THE STRAIGHT DOPE SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proto-laptop-computer-in-the-paper-chase/564191/3 "2010-12-15T05:09:13Z")
I don’t know if the movie is online, and I’m not going to the trouble of locating a copy. But are you sure it’s not just a compact typewriter? These were getting very small and flat in the days before PCs. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proto-laptop-computer-in-the-paper-chase/564191/4 "2010-12-15T05:34:23Z")
was it an [Osborne?](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.vintage-computer.com/images/osborneexecutive.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.vintage-computer.com/osborneexecutive.shtml&h=468&w=800&sz=51&tbnid=7m-AF5ab0CcpxM:&tbnh=84&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dosborne%2Bcomputer&zoom=1&q=osborne+computer&usg=__xt-oi64PRilhR8MKDXh95PgWNd8=&sa=X&ei=KVMITeKJIoXksQP4peCaDg&ved=0CCUQ9QEwAg) ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proto-laptop-computer-in-the-paper-chase/564191/5 "2010-12-15T06:04:48Z")
Here’s a [screen capture](http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/1505/imag0454m.jpg). It does look like it has a couple of volume wheels in the front. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proto-laptop-computer-in-the-paper-chase/564191/6 "2010-12-15T07:09:57Z")
[Olivetti Typewriter Lettera 36](http://www.flickr.com/photos/44337451@N00/4516174686) ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proto-laptop-computer-in-the-paper-chase/564191/7 "2010-12-15T12:24:57Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > [Olivetti Typewriter Lettera 36](http://www.flickr.com/photos/44337451@N00/4516174686) Thanks - that’s clearly it. Because the room is dark in that scene, it’s hard to see the back half of the typewriter, but now that I know it’s there, I can see it. Andy ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proto-laptop-computer-in-the-paper-chase/564191/8 "2010-12-15T15:50:41Z")
Holy-moly, that thing screams “70s”… what’s the font on the keyboard? And what purpose did the wheels on the front serve? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proto-laptop-computer-in-the-paper-chase/564191/9 "2010-12-15T16:42:51Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > what’s the font on the keyboard? Looks a lot like the iconic [Cooper Black](http://www.identifont.com/show?I8) font to me. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proto-laptop-computer-in-the-paper-chase/564191/10 "2010-12-15T16:55:41Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > [Olivetti Typewriter Lettera 36](http://www.flickr.com/photos/44337451@N00/4516174686) Good work! How did you recognize it? Did you have one? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proto-laptop-computer-in-the-paper-chase/564191/11 "2010-12-15T19:18:21Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > was it an [Osborne?](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.vintage-computer.com/images/osborneexecutive.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.vintage-computer.com/osborneexecutive.shtml&h=468&w=800&sz=51&tbnid=7m-AF5ab0CcpxM:&tbnh=84&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dosborne%2Bcomputer&zoom=1&q=osborne+computer&usg=__xt-oi64PRilhR8MKDXh95PgWNd8=&sa=X&ei=KVMITeKJIoXksQP4peCaDg&ved=0CCUQ9QEwAg) Not in the '70s it wasn’t. My adviser ran a conference about computing in the '80s in 1978, where Adam Osborne and Portia Isaacsson got OC computing right - but he was still a publisher back then. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proto-laptop-computer-in-the-paper-chase/564191/12 "2010-12-15T20:13:48Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Not in the '70s it wasn’t. My adviser ran a conference about computing in the '80s in 1978, where Adam Osborne and Portia Isaacsson got OC computing right - but he was still a publisher back then. The only PC-like machine I recall from that time close to that size was the Xerox Alto. It could have been a detached keyboard from something, but the context of the OP made it most likely a portable typewriter. Those compact units were supplanted by PCs so fast that most people have the iconic image of an old Remington model in their minds when they think of a typewriter. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proto-laptop-computer-in-the-paper-chase/564191/13 "2010-12-15T22:19:12Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Good work! How did you recognize it? Did you have one? Nah, I just looked up old 70s typewriters on Google, and found quite a few geeky sites that chronicle their history in some detail. I just matched them up. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proto-laptop-computer-in-the-paper-chase/564191/14 "2010-12-16T01:38:36Z")
Thanks. You’ve done the Dope proud. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proto-laptop-computer-in-the-paper-chase/564191/15 "2010-12-16T01:56:53Z")
I wish Google-Fu was the path to a lucrative career. I think I’d do well for myself.