Before the Undo Command, There Was the Electric Eraser

Posted by bookofjoe on Wednesday May 07, 2025 @03:58PM
from the spectrum.ieee.org dept.

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

( 6 comments | 2 points | on HN )

Re:Before the Undo Command, There Was the Electric Eraser by bdcravens on Friday May 09, 2025 @05:57PM (#43941297)

> 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.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Before the Undo Command, There Was the Electric Eraser by ketzo on Friday May 09, 2025 @08:06PM (#43942106)

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.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Before the Undo Command, There Was the Electric Eraser by function_seven on Friday May 09, 2025 @06:23PM (#43941476)

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.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Before the Undo Command, There Was the Electric Eraser by johnea on Friday May 09, 2025 @06:27PM (#43941513)

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...

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Re:Before the Undo Command, There Was the Electric Eraser by loeber on Friday May 09, 2025 @07:40PM (#43941952)

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.

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Re:Before the Undo Command, There Was the Electric Eraser by encrypted_bird on Sunday May 11, 2025 @08:45PM (#43958595)

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.

[ Parent | on HN ]