[HN Gopher] Donald Bitzer has died
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Donald Bitzer has died
Author : sohkamyung
Score : 137 points
Date : 2024-12-13 05:32 UTC (17 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (computerhistory.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (computerhistory.org)
| ggm wrote:
| IBM did a roadshow around 79-82 time frame in the UK and showed
| off plasma displays. They were very cool. Orange glow, very fast
| response they were built into the walls of an IBM mobile trailer
| hauled around the country drumming up business in the university
| towns. I didn't see one again until a very early Toshiba luggable
| in the early 90s.
|
| PLATO seemed to me to kind of not lead anywhere solid. The field
| of computer aided instruction went on of course, NATO funded
| summer schools across Europe looking at it for decades. Maybe if
| you're in the field it has strong roots and a context. I worked
| alongside people in the space in that time and it felt like it
| wasn't living up to the promise.
|
| That said, lots of things stem from it. All across the surface of
| things we do today. Mice, workstations, immersive experience,
| scripted interactions. I'm not sure I buy "email was born in
| PLATO"
| SoftTalker wrote:
| I was assigned a Compaq portable with a plasma screen in the
| early 1990s at my first job. "Portable" was relative to the
| era; the thing was the size of a small suitcase.
| flyinghamster wrote:
| I think it was a bit too far ahead of its time. By the
| mid-1980s when I encountered it, it felt dated; the
| communications increasingly felt slow. Attempts at
| commercializing it, and on running it on newer hardware didn't
| really go very far.
|
| There were implementations of TUTOR for MS-DOS as well, with
| TenCORE being one that I saw. Early in my programming career, I
| came across it when we were rewriting a financial planner that
| was originally written in it into C. I was flabbergasted when
| my Lotus 1-2-3 importer was twenty times faster then the
| original. On reflection, I realized that TenCORE so completely
| imitated its CDC Cyber heritage that it used Cyber floating-
| point format for its math, and had to emulate every math
| operation.
| toomuchtodo wrote:
| _Donald Blitzer Has Died_ -
| https://mailchi.mp/ea26bdcfbd65/donald-l-bitzer-rip-1934-202...
|
| Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Bitzer
| AlphaWeaver wrote:
| Donald Bitzer was the first Computer Science professor I had in
| college. He taught a discrete mathematics course (boolean logic).
|
| Though he was on the older side when I took his course, he still
| brought laughter and enthusiasm to his classes, and set the tone
| for the rest of my college career. He will be missed!
| ikanreed wrote:
| Yeah, there were some other older professors at NC State who
| had clearly aged out of knowing the state of the art, but
| Bitzer was an enthusastic teacher who cared about engaging
| students, and still knew his stuff.
| fnordlord wrote:
| Same. It was my first CS class after transferring to NCSU in
| 2000. I was pretty lost at times but he was super kind and
| patient whenever I went to office hours. He was an older
| professor at that time and it was always cool to see was still
| teaching well beyond when I graduated.
| mitchbob wrote:
| He is the main character in _The Friendly Orange Glow_ [1], an
| amazing history of the PLATO system that has many valuable
| lessons on how to foster technological innovation and create
| thriving online communities.
|
| [1] http://friendlyorangeglow.com/
| mrob wrote:
| PLATO is notable for being the origin of the of the computer
| role playing game. The history of early CRPGs is murky, because
| PLATO was intended for educational use and games programmers
| had to work in secret to avoid the administrators deleting
| their work, but it's possible that the first ever CRPG was the
| Reginald Rutherford's 1975 game "The Dungeon" (a.k.a. "pedit5"
| after its inconspicuous lesson name). The Dungeon was probably
| earlier than the lost game "m199h" that was previously thought
| to be first. These early CRPGs are all influenced by Dungeons
| and Dragons, which was first published in 1974.
|
| The Dungeon is still playable today. The CRPG Addict blog has
| details:
|
| http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/2019/01/revisiting-dungeon-19...
|
| And more information about lost games:
|
| http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/2021/06/brief-everything-we-k...
| kevindamm wrote:
| This makes me sad, more than other recently seen obituaries, but
| I can't picture an image of him without his smile that could
| stretch his whole face up and back. I'll always remember him as
| his mirthful and investigative mind.
|
| I think my first interaction with him best describes the
| influence he had on me as an educator, adviser and scientist. I
| hadn't met him yet, I was in his office because I noticed a few
| of my fellow Comp. Sci. undergrads there, just chatting as we do.
| I didn't even know whose office it was, at that point, now that I
| think about it.
|
| In he walks with one of those wall-mounted soap dispensers that I
| recognized from the gym locker rooms. He sits down and starts
| fishing out screws from it, all while jumping right into our
| conversation without missing a beat. At my first chance, I ask
| him what he's doing, I was a little confused but my curiosity was
| clearly something he had an appetite for. He starts describing
| his investigation of which screws to replace. You see, the things
| kept falling down because something in the soap was causing the
| coating or material of the screws to disintegrate. I think I
| inquired about why he had to do it, or maybe the question was
| written on my face, because I also remember he was not obligated
| to, just that kind of person to see an open question as an
| opportunity for experiment.
|
| Twenty-plus years later, and many many experiments of my own, I
| still remember this interaction. Here he was describing a very
| practical approach (rather than hit the books on the components
| in the soap and what *-oxide coatings were added or developing on
| the screws, just throw the experiment together -- its answer will
| be as good or better). He was affable and delighted to share
| knowledge, and he didn't exude any of the pretentiousness that
| you might expect from someone whose walls were covered
| (literally, to the ceiling) with framed copies of his patents and
| awards. He was still actively going to the gym even at his
| clearly advanced age (even 20 years ago, I think he was already
| emeritus, and he played racquetball at least weekly). I learned
| what a convolution was just from looking at what he'd done. All
| this and he managed to inspire without personifying it.
|
| RIP Dr. Donald Bitzer
| spiffytech wrote:
| I took his course at NCSU. I remember that every time I saw him
| he was friendly and cheerful, eager to chat with anyone. He may
| have been the warmest professor I had in college.
| gottebp wrote:
| Ah this is sad news. I came to know of him by way of UIUC's
| Engineering Open House. Back in 03' or 04' a rag tag group of us
| put together an "asymmetric capacitor" exhibit -- a sort of
| simple ion thruster. A kind hearted TA put our project in for an
| award Bitzer had sponsored, and it went in our favor.
|
| It was not a large amount after dividing it up, but it was so
| rare in the college days to have any spare change for anything,
| and it sure meant a lot at the time.
| https://ece.illinois.edu/academics/ugrad/scholarships-and-aw...
| AstroJetson wrote:
| I was at the UDel at the early part of Plato. He came a few times
| to visit. He was a great presenter and interesting to talk to
| after his talks.
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