The years 2078 to 2082 will be the 100th anniversary of Don Knuth's creation of TeX, Metafont and the Computer Modern fonts. Being already more than middle-aged, I won't be there to celebrate.

I'll be giving a talk on this at the online 2021 TeX Conference (5-8 August). The abstract is below. At tomorrow's (15 July, 18:30 UK time) TeX Hour your views on this topic will be most welcome. For details see contact.

Abstract

This abstract is a short essay giving a framework for my talk. I take a long view. In my talk I'll provide some details and examples. My talk is about digital typography in 2050 and 2070, and the role

A few billion years ago life in the oceans began oxygenating the atmosphere. By 350 million years ago life on land was creating what we now call fossil fuel (coal and oil). A few million years ago the genus homo (man) emerged.

Birds and other animals have song and dance. The tool-making Neanderthals (250,000 to 40,000 years ago) probably had language. Human art and music arose at least 40,000 years ago. Around 14,000 years ago agriculture and settlement started to replace nomadic hunt and gather. Writing (on tablets) followed about 5,000 years ago.

Ancient history (3000BC to AD500) has about 90 civilizations worldwide with written records. This is a very rich period which still influences contemporary thought in art, religion, society, culture and politics.

In the 1400s, along with the rise of the European Renaissance, printing with moveable type emerged, to replace hand copying of books. This is typography, born out of calligraphy (writing with pen or brush).

By the 20th century there were massive printing presses, producing a million copies or more of each issue of a newspaper, which were then distributed on a national basis. (In 1950 the News of the World sold over 8 million copies each week.)

Also in the 20th century there was electrification, wireless stations and receivers, and studios. This distributed spoken voice news, and music, to millions. Cinema and then television provided moving images to accompany the sound.

By 2020 vast torrents of information were being created and transmitted using computers and networks (mobile phones, wi-fi and 4G). The present context is very different from the 1970s, when Don Knuth started his foundational work on digital typography, and the creation of TeX and Metafont.

Gutenberg and others replaced hand copying of books by the printing press. Knuth and others replaced mechanical typography by computer (or digital) typography. Both produce only static visual images.

If humanity avoids destroying its culture and civilization, then the digital typography of 2050 will be different again. It is already emerging. One major component is the (world wide) web and its servers and browsers. This was pioneered by Tim Berners-Lee. Another is the smart mobile phone (now dominated by Apple and Android). A third is the large high-resolution flat screen television.

I am now in my late 60s. I hope to be alive to see the digital typography of 2050, and if so I expect some surprises. Maxwell's unification of electricity and magnetism (1865) lives on as the theoretical basis for electrification, wireless and much more. I hope the work of Knuth and others in digital typography can similarly be transmitted as useful living tools and skills to those who follow us.

I do not expect to be alive in 2070, yet alone the 100th birthday of TeX in (2078 to 2082).