RE: VMs: Why VMs spaces behave like normal word spaces

["GC" <glenclaston@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Rene wrote:

> Absolutely correct. A few years ago, when
> several VMs 'fans' met in the UK, some colour
> slides of VMs pages were projected on a screen
> and the pen dipping could be observed clearly.
> See 'minutes of the Teddington meeting'  at
> Gabriel's web site.

Someone has color slides of VMS pages and they haven't made these scans
available?  Methinks a good thonging is in order here! :-)  Does anyone have
a list of the folios that can be purchased on color slide, or at least a
list of the ones you viewed?  Right now one has to request a page from
Beinecke and go through a hit-and-miss process of whether the page requested
is available.

> How about the 'human variability' factor as I
> suggested above?
> There really aren't any half spaces. There are
> lots of spaces which are hard to judge but they
> don't have a consistent size which is half the
> normal word space. Even the normal word spaces
> and the character spaces vary in width throughout
> the MS, which is also quite normal since it was
> done by a human being, not a machine.

This is a clear and simple explanation, and one that should suffice for now.
Unfortunately this is another unique feature of the VMS, as no other
manuscript I've viewed has these pauses or such unruly word spacing.
Because it is a unique feature, it does deserve some investigation, even if
the final answer is as simple as 'human variability'.  I think the reason
for this is a simple one, but not the one you're suggesting.  Time will
tell.

GC

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