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The striped IBM logo (1967) predated VDT scan lines. IBM introduced the 2260 Display Terminal which used a CRT in 1965, but while it was a poplar product it isn

The striped IBM logo (1967) predated VDT scan lines. IBM introduced the 2260 Display Terminal which used a CRT in 1965, but while it was a poplar product it isn't consistent with this theory of the logo as the scanlines were actually vertical. The successor product, the 3270 terminal, was only introduced in 1971, and so postdates the striped logo. You're on firmer ground with the connection to striped continuous teletype paper (such as that used with the IBM 1403 printer), but the ubiquity of those stripes really only begins with the introduction of dot matrix printers in 1970. Notably, when Paul Rand initially introduced his striped logo redesign, an executive commented "It reminds me of the Georgia chain gang."

TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
The striped logo actually dates from 1972. In the 60s and 70s, many more people had seen line printer output - more common than teletype output - than had personally used a computer. So the stripes were definitely a cultural signifier long before computers became everyday items. And raster lines were very common by 1970. See e.g. DEC's VT05 "affordable" terminal from 1970. http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/terminal/vt05/vt05-3.jpg http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/terminal/vt05/vt05-3.jpg The 2260 scanlines may have been vertical, but the impression was definitely of characters made of horizontal lines. It's an interesting history - not least the fact that the electronics for the terminal lived in a huge wardrobe sized-box. http://www.righto.com/2019/11/ibm-sonic-delay-lines-and-history-of.html http://www.righto.com/2019/11/ibm-sonic-delay-lines-and-hist... You can see clearly how the look of the character set prefigured the new IBM logo.
- yencabulator 6y ago
  https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/en/icons/makingibm/impacts/ https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/en/icons/makingibm... has a good visual history of the IBM logo. Make sure to click right arrow under the logo image.
- webmaven 6y ago
  > The striped logo actually dates from 1972. No, that's whe the 8-bar logo design was introduced, but a 13-bar version dates from 1966 or 1967, depending on the source: https://www.paulrand.design/work/IBM.html https://www.paulrand.design/work/IBM.html

TheOtherHobbes 6y ago

The striped logo actually dates from 1972. In the 60s and 70s, many more people had seen line printer output - more common than teletype output - than had personally used a computer. So the stripes were definitely a cultural signifier long before computers became everyday items. And raster lines were very common by 1970. See e.g. DEC's VT05 "affordable" terminal from 1970. http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/terminal/vt05/vt05-3.jpg http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/terminal/vt05/vt05-3.jpg The 2260 scanlines may have been vertical, but the impression was definitely of characters made of horizontal lines. It's an interesting history - not least the fact that the electronics for the terminal lived in a huge wardrobe sized-box. http://www.righto.com/2019/11/ibm-sonic-delay-lines-and-history-of.html http://www.righto.com/2019/11/ibm-sonic-delay-lines-and-hist... You can see clearly how the look of the character set prefigured the new IBM logo.

yencabulator 6y ago
https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/en/icons/makingibm/impacts/ https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/en/icons/makingibm... has a good visual history of the IBM logo. Make sure to click right arrow under the logo image.
webmaven 6y ago
> The striped logo actually dates from 1972. No, that's whe the 8-bar logo design was introduced, but a 13-bar version dates from 1966 or 1967, depending on the source: https://www.paulrand.design/work/IBM.html https://www.paulrand.design/work/IBM.html