dumb terminal

hardware A type of terminal that consists of a keyboard

and a display screen that can be used to enter and transmit

data to, or display data from, a computer to which it is

connected. A dumb terminal, in contrast to an intelligentterminal, has no independent processing capability or

auxiliary storage and thus cannot function as a stand-alone

device.

The dumbest kind of terminal is a glass tty. The next step

up has a minimally addressable cursor but no on-screen

editing or other features normally supported by an

intelligent terminal.

Once upon a time, when glass ttys were common and addressable

cursors were something special, what is now called a dumb

terminal could pass for a smart terminal.

[Examples?]

[Jargon File]

(1995-04-14)