Fun little Selectric and tech crossover anecdote. Unlike normal typewriters, the Selectric used a single use film ribbon. The letters typed were visible on the

Fun little Selectric and tech crossover anecdote. Unlike normal typewriters, the Selectric used a single use film ribbon. The letters typed were visible on the used ribbon. So each used ribbon essentially had a copy of every letter typed on it. Because of this, at a defense contractor I was working for, the ribbons were required to be disposed of in a burn barrel. A burn barrel was a locked barrel where sensitive documents were disposed of so they could be securely destroyed. At the time, working with folks on a presentation for a project on a Macintosh, the question came up on whether a LaserWriter cartridge should be similarly disposed of and destroyed. I think at the time it was decided “no”, though I don’t know today if a remnant image of the last few pages could be recovered from a modern cartridge or not.