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Signal · When? · it reacts

Element 1

1●›
P
Press

Say now.

button · key · clap

First known

From a history

1958Tennis for Two: a press of the button sent the ball across the court. Higinbotham, Brookhaven.

BNL's own account, written 1981. 1940s console START keys are probably earlier, but no document was opened.

Dated by a reputable history or a participant's own account. The source.

  • ReadingValue

Specimen № 1 — operate freely

Press to serve, then press again as the ball reaches you. Space works too.

Fig. 1 — Press

000 readings · idle

Down the Signal column

  1. it reactsPPress
  2. it followsHHold
  3. it targetsOOpen
  4. it remembersScSchedule
  5. it connectsNNotify
  6. it guessesWWake
  7. it actsIInterrupt

Read down and Press gets heavier: each step is the same act, on a machine that keeps track of more.

Bodies

The act stays put while the hardware changes. These are some of the forms Press takes.

  • button
  • key
  • clap

From the 2021 table

This was a tile of its own. On this table it is a form of Press, and its old address lands here.

  • Button PressRenamedThe same act, under a name that says what it does.