| Don Lancaster | |
| Birth Name: | Donald E. Lancaster |
| Death Date: | , age 83[1] |
| Death Place: | Mesa, Arizona, US |
| Nationality: | American |
| Known For: | Author |
Donald E. Lancaster was an American author, inventor, and microcomputer pioneer.[1]
Don graduated from North Allegheny High School in Wexford, Pennsylvania.[2] He received a BSEE degree from Lafayette College in 1961, and a MSEE from Arizona State University in 1967.[3]
Lancaster was a writer and engineer, who wrote multiple articles for computer and electronics magazines of the 1970s, including Popular Electronics, Radio-Electronics, Dr. Dobb's Journal, 73 Magazine, and Byte. He has written books on electronics, computers, and entrepreneurship, both commercially published and self-published.[1]
One of his early projects was "TV Typewriter" serial terminal.[1] The design was accepted by early microcomputer users as it used an ordinary television set for the display and could be built for around USD$200 in parts, at a time when commercial terminals were selling for over $1,000.
Lancaster was an early advocate and developer of what is now known as print-on-demand technology. Lancaster produced his self-published books by re-purposing the game port of an Apple II to transfer PostScript code directly to a laser printer, rather than using a Macintosh running PageMaker. This enabled continuous book production using an inexpensive Apple II, rather than tying up an expensive Macintosh until the print run was complete.
He formerly held a ham radio license (K3BYG).