Before the Undo Command, There Was the Electric Eraser

https://spectrum.ieee.org/electric-eraser

by bookofjoe • 1 year ago

31 6 1 year ago

spectrum.ieee.org

bdcravens• 1 year ago

The Dremel Moto-Tool, introduced in 1935, came with an array of swappable bits.

I'm kind of impressed at how those bits look pretty much identical to what you'd get today, and from the looks of it, they would fit in a modern Dremel rotary tool.

ketzo• 1 year ago

I had the same thought! Honestly, even the body of the device isn’t really that far off from what you would get today. Kinda awesome.

function_seven• 1 year ago

I dreamed of having one of these when I was in high school drafting class!

They definitely were worth it over “acoustic” erasers, but cost something like $70. The few times I got to use one spoiled me.

johnea• 1 year ago

They were great! Along with the drafting machine instead of T-square and triangles.

This is a reminder of so many things: Like chip and board "tape out" being done with actual tape on velum...

loeber• 1 year ago

I owned a little battery-powered, handheld electric eraser when I was in middle and high school. It cost maybe ten dollars, and it was so great. Amazing precision and super effective -- way better than the eraser nub at the end of a pencil. Would recommend.

encrypted_bird• 1 year ago

While I will admit the article was absolutely fascinating (as the subject of tech & science history almost always is), I must also say that there is a special place in hell for web developers who intentionally require JavaScript to be enabled in order to view a simple JPEG image.

Before the Undo Command, There Was the Electric Eraser

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