Cybernetics, the “science” relating the modus operandi of computing machines to man, has fostered a number of myths that cloud the way we talk about computers. And even though these cybernetics myths are not always taken seriously by the philosopher, engineer, or computer programmer, a misleading and imprecise vocabulary of computer logorrhea has evolved which threatens to obscure man's ability to use the electronic computing machine as a tool. This paper represents an inquiry into the roots of several cybernetics-related misconceptions and some of the consequent anthropomorphic nonsense and grammatical falacies which permeate our thinking and our language.

Using a computer text processing system as the entry and change vehicle for a photocomposition system affects the publishing function in many ways. Costs are reduced, quality and readability are enhanced, esthetics are more controllable, and entry personnel require little training. Proofreading is almost entirely replaced by a computer-generated concordance. Mechanicals for reproduction are completed at the editor's site, not at the printer's, completing one more step in the movement to the automated office. The Honeywell Computer Journal is published concurrently on hard copy, microfiche, and magnetic tape. The tape can be used to drive other photocomposition systems that differ from our own, just as a computer can translate COBOL programs to the running instructions of a particular computer. Thus our work has shown the way to a common composition language that can describe all formats and identify uniquely the universe of printed symbols.