[rescue] I watched "Brazil" again last weekend

[BSD Bob the old greybeard BSD freak]

> I watched "Brazil" again last weekend, and I got to thinking(bad sign!).
> 
> Wouldn't it be cool to make a 'puter keyboard out of an old typewriter.
> Those nice free-floating keys, with looooong travel.
> 
> 
> Bet it would be a bitch to make...but it would be a wizardly hack, to be sure.

Golly, where you been?  I drooled for one of the Friden Flexowriters, when
I first started playing with computers in the lab.  Those were soo kewl.
More expensive than my paltry budget at that time.

There were also keyboard printer devices that latched on top of an IBM
selectic for use as a 50 baud or so printer.

The Friden was nicer, though, since it had paper tape output, and printed
nice fully formed characters.  I don't recall exactly what the interface
output was, but it was a bit strange.

Alas, when it got down to brass tacks, I had to settle for an ASR-33.

It should not be all that hard to make a keyboard out of a typewriter,
as long as you can get to the key lever arms that hold the type bars.
Fix microswitches in an array off each lever arm to fire at the appropriate
time, and log that into a diode array.  The early radiotelegraph
typewriters of the 50's and 60's were done that way, sometimes, as
were early rtty keyboards.  That is only 5 level, but it probably could
be upped to 8 level with come pfutzing around.

Retro keyboarding.... interesting.....

Bob