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Is it a calculator? A laptop? It’s a dictionary!

Apart from ET, this nifty human device would surely shock the aliens

Image courtesy: @merriamwebster/Instagram
Published 14.08.23, 09:18 AM

If you are a ’90s kid who had family in the US, chances are you know what this contraption is. If you didn’t have family but were a word-nerd, you probably desired to have one of these. Merriam Webster’s Instagram page took us on a nostalgic trip with a recent post, which featured a calculator-like device, except with alphabets. This unique machine is a Franklin Electronic Dictionary.

For the uninitiated, which might be most of us Indian kids, US-based Franklin Electronic Publishers (or Franklin Computer Corporation) manufacture all things electronic. Since the 1980s, Franklin has been manufacturing a range of electronic dictionaries just like this one. For many a kid who had one of these, it was a constant companion on road trips and travels when this little hand-held computer was the OG Google for words and definitions. For many, it still remains a prized possession. If the comments section on the post is anything to go by, there was certainly a nostalgia trip going on for many!

Interestingly, Franklin still manufactures a bunch of these devices and now also has puzzles, translators and more. So if you’re looking for a nostalgia trip, a gift, or simply to surprise any extra-terrestrials (Skrulls, maybe?) that might drop by, get your hands on one of these.

— Rumela Basu

 

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