When a technology is new, there is usually a “Cambrian Explosion” in which people and companies try to use it in many different ways. Then the technology matures, only a few use cases remain and the rest is forgotten.
So in the 1980s, when devices with microprocessors were the first time cheap enough for everyone, there were “typewriters” that actually were plotters (https://biosrhythm.com/?p=2143) and could be used to write text as well as to draw diagrams.
(Learned via https://aperiodical.com/2025/12/double-maths-first-thing-issue-43)



