Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!think.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!n8emr!bluemoon!moonhawk
From: moonhawk@bluemoon.uucp (David Culberson)
Subject: Re: How do mechanical car-radio preset pushbuttons work??
Message-ID: <1Pa723w164w@bluemoon.uucp>
Sender: bbs@bluemoon.uucp (BBS Login)
Organization: Blue Moon BBS ((614) 868-998[0][2][4])
References: <9534@sail.LABS.TEK.COM>
Date: Sat, 18 May 91 22:42:47 EDT

johno@sail.LABS.TEK.COM (John Ollis) writes:

> One of the things that fascinated me is the Selectric typewriter.  The keyboa
> mechanically produced a 6-bit binary code which is then interpreted by the
> type ball positioning mechanism (4 bits to control the roll of the ball and
> 2 for the tilt).  The only place electricity was used in those things was to
> make the motor go around.
> 
> And how about mechanical calculators.
> 
> I have a lot of respect for the engineers who designed this sort of thing usi
> that technology.  Electronics makes a lot of things a whole lot easier.
> 
> --johno


        How about the little animatronics that were popular way back, thew 
ones that could write phrases over and over and the like. Those are 
amazing, truly! So complex and all...
                        David

Now the world has gone to bed,  MoonHawk@Bluemoon.uucp          ////|all
Darkness won't engulf my head,  moonhawk%bluemoon@nstar.rn.com //// |hail
I can see by infrared,                                     \\\\///__|the
How I hate the night.      Yeah, this IS an annoying SIG.   \\\\/   |miga