Computer Light Pen Nothing New

Where have your business reporters been the past 40 years? That’s how long light pens have been in use with computers. Why did you have to wait until today to recognize this tool? (“Light Pens Point Way to Profit,” May 15)

When IBM first introduced its PC about a dozen years ago, there was a light pen connector built in. But it never went anywhere because it was too painful to use. Try writing on a vertical surface while sitting at a desk. I suspect that the reintroduction of this useful tool will suffer the same fate until designers realize that people are accustomed to writing on horizontal, not vertical, surfaces.

When computer system designers grow up and start wearing bifocals, they will realize that vertical CRT screens are not very good. When people read, they usually hold books flat or at a small angle to the horizontal on a desk or in their laps. That’s the way computer screens should be placed. That’s the way Sears positioned them in the catalogue departments in their stores. That’s the way people use laptop or notebook computers. That orientation of a screen will tempt people to use light pens. Until the light pens are adapted to the LCD screens of laptop computers, their use will be minimal.

In my office, I put a “hole” in my desk in which the CRT was dropped so that I could read it like a book. That way I don’t have to change to reading glasses and can use my normal bifocals. And I don’t use a standard mouse. I use one shaped like and held like a pen. It is much easier to manipulate than a mouse and, in close quarters, as in an airline seat, I can turn the pen over and use it like a track ball. I’ve often wondered why someone took a perfectly good track ball and turned it upside-down. Maybe he needed arm exercise.

When the light pen is adapted to LCD screens, I will use it with my laptop computer. It would be much easier to use than a mouse.

DAVID FEIGN

Santa Ana