We don't have nanoscale metrology yet, but it would be nice to start at least with this level of scanned-in measurements when the original manufacturing descriptions and specs are long gone. Maybe then, one day our descendants will thank us for the foresight to capture these relics in sufficient detail to make their VR games' retro artifacts authentic.
http://www.flex-form.nl/ (wow, http? really?)
and
The latter makes very impressive scans.
People were either locked at home, the libraries were closed, or else disease-ridden.
Archive.org was providing knowledge in a time of emergency when people had no other means of access to knowledge, and people who may have been out of work due to a pandemic, and thus unable to afford to buy the stuff if it even was available via mail.
It wasn't some trivial lark.
What an incredible collection. Once again, the IA is one of the most important bits to come out of the internet. Long after Facebook and Twitter are forgotten (does anybody remember the name of the town crier in Alexandria?) the Archive will hopefully continue to exist and will continue to amaze.
I learned how to type when I was 15 on one of those clunky old Scheidegger machines with anonymized key caps. 40 years later I still use that skill every day, so this article probably resonated with me for that reason alone.
But to see the physical part of the Archive really warms my heart, at least one group has their eye firmly on the ball and is able to say 'we'll take all of it' in cases like these.