Re: Swyft Card- What is it?

[kindall@manual.com (Jerry Kindall)]

In article <4gtgoi$8cb@stratus.skypoint.net>, tmcdan19@skypoint.com (Terry
McDanel) wrote:

>Jerry Kindall (kindall@manual.com) wrote:
>
>: The SwyftCard was designed by Jef Raskin, an Apple guy who did a lot on
>: the Macintosh.  The ideas that first appeared in the SwyftCard,
>: particularly a single document space and the concept of "leaping," were
>: later used in the Canon Cat, which Raskin also designed.  That was a
>: really neat machine; too bad it wasn't a raging commercial success.
>
>So, im curious, what do you mean by "single document space" and "leaping"?

"Single document space" means that each disk held a single file.  There
was no concept of having individual files on your disk.

"Leaping" means you don't use the arrow keys to move the cursor.  Instead,
you hold down a modifier key and start typing what you're looking for.  As
you type, the cursor leaps to the next occurrence of what you've typed so
far.  In other words it would be like using your word processor's Find
feature to move the cursor -- only a lot easier because it was just a
modifier key.  You have one Leap key for moving the cursor forward and one
Leap key for moving the cursor back.  I believe they used the Open-Apple
and Solid-Apple on the IIe; the Canon Cat had two keys actually labeled
Leap, right below the Space bar.

>Incidentally, didnt the SwyftCard also have database, spreadsheet & 
>telecom software in it?

Well, the card had these functions.  They weren't separate applications,
though.  Sort of like OpenDoc on the Mac, they were merely commands that
operated on the data you'd entered in different ways.

>terry.
>
> Terry McDanel
> St Paul, Minnesota USA
> tmcdan19@skypoint.com

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Jerry Kindall (kindall@manual.com)
Manual Labor: We Wrote The Book!
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