https://computerhistory.org/blog/in-memoriam-donald-bitzer-1934-2024/
"Bitzer was born January 1, 1934, and was an American electrical engineer and
computer scientist. He was co-inventor of the flat-panel plasma display and the
“father of PLATO,” the world’s earliest time-shared, computer-based education
system and home to one of the world’s most pioneering online communities.
Bitzer studied electrical engineering at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), obtaining a PhD in 1960. Following graduation, he
joined the UIUC faculty, where he learned of efforts to bring lessons to
students over a closed-circuit television network. While a committee of
engineers, psychologists, and educators were unable to agree on a single
solution at the time, Bitzer wrote up a proposal within a week, got it
approved, and immediately started developing his PLATO system for the
university’s groundbreaking ILLIAC I computer—the first electronic digital
stored program computer built by a university. (PLATO stands for Programmed
Logic for Automated Teaching Operations).
To expand multimedia for courses, later PLATO terminals incorporated a
microfilm projector that could combine detailed images with computer text on
the screen, and some used an attached magnetic audio disk for language and
music instruction. To make things easier on the eyes for students sitting in
front of computer terminals for many hours at a time, in 1964 Bitzer, with
colleague Gene Slottow and graduate student Robert Wilson, invented the flat
panel display: plasma screens do not flicker and their clever design also saved
memory in the computer by having the display itself store data."
Via Esther Schindler.
RIP,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
