Another week-end encounter. A Royal McBee computer/typewriter, heir to one of the non-human participant of the "The Sory of Mel".

Why do I blog this? documenting different sorts of interface. There was a time when human-machine interfaces were not so homogeneous and you had both keypads, switches, potentiometers and stuff. I am often fascinated by the proximity between the input and the output (with the green/red switches on the right) and how it can change the task at hand. I don't mean here it's better to have that setting (it's certainly less flexible) but there is strong link between input/output (not to mention the device aesthetic).

Talking with the person who operated this machine, she said there was a pleasure of immediacy when using it and a limited flexibility which was appealing to her. "no diversion" as she reported.