Lesson plan

UNITYPER

The UNITYPER was an input device for the UNIVAC I computer manufactured by Remington Rand, which went on sale in mid-1951 but was not in operation until June 1952. It was an early direct data entry system. The UNITYPER accepted user inputs on a keyboard of a modified Remington typewriter, then wrote that data onto a metal magnetic tape using an integral tape drive. The UNITYPER II was an input device for the UNIVAC II. The UNITYPER II was a reduced-size, reduced-cost version of the UNITYPER I subsequently developed as a text-to-tape transcribing device for the UNIVAC I system and released in 1953, also sold as a peripheral to the UNIVAC II. The original required individual motors and control amplifiers to advance, rewind, fast-forward and maintain tension on the tape. UNITYPER II replaced these with a flexible cable and clutch system driven by a single within the typewriter. Coding was accomplished via mechanical lift arms and latching bails added to the typewriter's existing mechanical linkages in place for print-action. When a key was depressed, up to 8 affiliated lift arms were "caught" on latching bails which in turn connected 8 coding switches to the recording head. A commutator, powered by the internal drive motor, would momentarily complete the power circuit through the coding switches to the recording head before advancing the tape to the next recording position.…

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Article summary

The UNITYPER was an input device for the UNIVAC I computer manufactured by Remington Rand, which went on sale in mid-1951 but was not in operation until June 1952. It was an early direct data entry system. The UNITYPER accepted user inputs on a keyboard of a modified Remington typewriter, then wrote that data onto a metal magnetic tape using an integral tape drive. The UNITYPER II was an input device for the UNIVAC II. The UNITYPER II was a reduced-size, reduced-cost version of the UNITYPER I subsequently developed as a text-to-tape transcribing device for the UNIVAC I system and released in 1953, also sold as a peripheral to the UNIVAC II. The original required individual motors and control amplifiers to advance, rewind, fast-forward and maintain tension on the tape. UNITYPER II replaced these with a flexible cable and clutch system driven by a single within the typewriter. Coding was accomplished via mechanical lift arms and latching bails added to the typewriter's existing mechanical linkages in place for print-action. When a key was depressed, up to 8 affiliated lift arms were "caught" on latching bails which in turn connected 8 coding switches to the recording head. A commutator, powered by the internal drive motor, would momentarily complete the power circuit through the coding switches to the recording head before advancing the tape to the next recording position.…

Key claims

  1. release date: 1953 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the release date is "1953". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  4. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1119398280

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.