WhenApplied Ergonomicsbegan in 1969 (I had the
excitement of being the "rst Editor) we talked (pace
political correctness) about man}machine systems and
man}computer interaction (the International Journal of
Man}Machine Studies started in 1969, and see Shackel
(1969)). Few realised that we were on the threshold of the
development of a new sub-discipline or multi-discipline
now generally calledhuman}computer interaction(HCI).
The growth has been phenomenal.
At that time, in an era still of hand-writtenmanuscripts
and carbon copies and retyping for any revision, I would
have started writing this paper at least four months
ago. Now, through laziness and old-age delay, real work
began only two weeks ago and (owing to a computerised
touch-typing training program created at HUSAT in
1976}1978) I type the text rather hectically myself and
bless my former secretary for kindly typing all the refer-
ences in a little over a day. That is merely one small
example of the new possibilities, taken for granted by
most people now, which have become available over the
30 years ofApplied Ergonomics.
To read something of the development of HCI
through these years, please refer to Shackel (1997); for