roy%phri@uunet.UU.NET (Roy Smith) (11/09/87)
I was in a store the other day and saw an interesting gizmo (not
for sale; but as something they use). There is piece of paper (actually, a
blank sales slip) in a holder, with a pen above it. The pen is attached to
the rest of the box via two straight links, roughly at right angles to each
other, attached near the tip, sort of like a pantograph. The other ends of
the links disapear into the body of the box. The links are free to move as
you move the pen. Coming out of the box was a wire, going to a 42A block
and thence to what looks like a run of regular 4-conductor station wire.
The box had a name on it, something like "Tele-Autograph".
Obviously, the idea is that you sign your name with the pen and the box
reads the movements of the pen and duplicates them, at the other end of the
wire, where you signature can be recorded, or compared to a file copy.
The first time I remember seeing one of these must have been 15
years ago. I remember playing with it; seems that when you put the pen
back in the holder, the sales slip is ejected and some light flashes; this
caused various store-manager types to come over and remove me from the
vicinity of the machine. When I tried playing with the one I saw recently,
nothing exciting happend; possibly it wasn't turned on?
Does anybody know anything about these? Is there some standard for
what the phone interface looks like? What happens at the other end of the
wire? Does a mechanical pen follow your movements and duplicate your
signature? Is the tracing stored digitally? Any and all info would be
appreciated. Do they actually still use these things? Seems that with the
advances in digiter-table technology, these mechanical boxes would be
obsolete by now.
--
Roy Smith, {allegra,cmcl2,philabs}!phri!roy
System Administrator, Public Health Research Institute
455 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016taras@utgpu.UUCP (11/24/87)
Yes thease devices are still used. If go to the duty free shop in Buffalo or Niagra Falls, the clerk still records your order on the Telewriter, and you still pick up your order from the bridge and it still comes in on a telewriter. -- Taras Pryjma uucp: taras@gpu.utcs bitnet: tpryjma@utoronto Bell: +1 (416) 536-2821 Fear is never boring. hmmm. hmmmm. YEEEEEOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Damn those trap doors! Yup. Fear is never boring.