THE VIDEO SHELF · linotype typesetting
FarewellEtaoinShrdlu
A documentary on the last day the New York Times was printed with linotype machines in 1978, following the process from the newsroom to the press. It marks the move to computerized typesetting.
Why HN readers recommended it
Frequently recommended as an absorbing look at hot-metal typesetting and the end of the linotype era.
This is a summary from the source dataset, not an endorsement by Hacker News or the video creator.
Video & recommendation details
- Creator / channel
- Drinks and Dice
- Topic
- linotype typesetting
- Format
- documentary
- Level
- general
- HN recommenders in dataset
- 6
- HN mentions in dataset
- 7
- Recommendation years in dataset
- 2017–2026
These counts and years describe the included Hacker News records; they are not YouTube views or the video’s publication date.
From the original HN conversations
Excerpts from the recorded comments. Follow each source for the full comment and surrounding discussion.
If you want to see the entire workflow as implemented by the New York Times there is a great documentary about it. [VIDEO] The documentary covers the last day that the NYT used a metal/linotype press and talks through the entire process that happened from …
avs733 on Hacker News · 2017-10
In Linotype Typesetting (1960) [video]Somewhat related - there's a good documentary about the last edition of the New York Times published using the linotype process called "Farewell Etaoin Shrdlu" [1]. [1] [VIDEO]
oasisbob on Hacker News · 2018-02
In Typesetting and paste-up, 1970 styleAs an aside, check out the 30 minute documentary "Farewell Etaoin Shrdlu" ( [VIDEO] ) about the end of the linotype era. I'm amazed at the engineering that went into linotype printing.
Agent766 on Hacker News · 2022-11
In Why do we call it “boilerplate code?”
Summaries, classifications and recommendation records are from the HackerTube source dataset. Read about this library and its limitations.