Maintaining Images with the Macintosh
Mark D. Larsen · Hispania · 1989
We can easily imagine how a scanner could enhance our work. For example, most of what we do involves written text, often supplemented with photographs, maps, and pictures. Unfortunately, these resources too often lie dormant on the bookshelves and in the filing cabinets of our offices. Our efforts would dramatically improve if we were able to analyze, compare, manipulate, edit, and display any and all of those materials in the same way we handle text with word processors. Digital scanners can make that possibility a reality. The true potential of scanners came into focusliterallywith the advent of 32-bit, graphics-oriented microcomputers like the Apple Macintosh. Indeed, one of the first devices invented for use with the machine was an adaptor called MacVision ($395) by Koala Technologies which could transmit images from a video camera directly into its WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) display. Those images could then be altered, saved, and reproduced in a variety of ways and for a variety of purposes. Camera-to-Macintosh scanners continue to be popular, especially for applications that replicate true-to-life scenes, but the need to capture finer images and printed text has led to the development of other types of machines as well. They vary from simple economy models to sophisticated and powerful systems whose costs exceed that of the computer they are built to enhance. All come with a wide range of features and capabilities. At the low end of the spectrum is the ThunderScan by Thunderware, which lists for about $250, and can be acquired through mail order for as little as $199. The hardware consists of a clever device which replaces the ribbon in the ImageWriter (the standard dot-matrix printer sold by Apple):