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#retrofuture

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#Technology that I don't think ever existed, but which *should* have...

The #microfiche #typewriter. [1]

It is a typewriter very closely resembling an #IBM #Selectric electric typewriter. The keyboard is virtually identical, though the platen and print head are different. Instead of the platen being a rubber roller, there is a slot with guides, into which you drop a standard-sized plastic film sheet - a #fiche.

The type element - the "ball" - is identical to a normal Selectric element, except for size. It's only a few millimetres in diameter. Typing is virtually silent, because the ball moves only a tiny, tiny amount at a time, so little you don't even notice it unless you watch for a full line of type.

Above the fiche slot is a small-ish translucent rear-projection screen, which shows the text of the page you're currently typing. Operators work in a dimly-lit room, and their faces are bathed in a diffuse, soft white light.

#retro #RetroTechnology #RetroFuture #TypeElement #TypewriterBall #ShouldHaveBeen #ShouldHave #If #invention #1960s #typewriter

[1] Or #microfilm

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