Well for geek appeal how about a flip clock.



or flip-dot display

 

I enjoy watching the moving mechanism.

I had one of these when I was a kid. It made such a racket, I had to unplug it to sleep at night.

 

I had one of these when I was a kid. It made such a racket, I had to unplug it to sleep at night.


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Yeah... extremely low noise would be a requirement for a practical design, at least for me.

 

Yeah... extremely low noise would be a requirement for a practical design, at least for me.

I agree!

 

When I was a boy my mom had a very fascinating clock in the kitchen. It had seven segment displays that were mechanically switched. That is to say that inside the clock was a motor and rotary switches. When they reached position they would illuminate corresponding numbers. There was nothing digital about it except the display, which was a bunch of neon bulbs, one for each segment of each numeral. But that wasn't a step backwards, it was a leap forwards at the time.

I think the idea is somewhat novel and neat to make a mechanical display using digital technology. I recall some of the displays in the avionics compartments of large commercial aircraft; a magnet with yellow painted on one pole and black on the other. Energize the magnet in one direction to get the yellow side to display, then cut power. The magnet would hold its position until changed to the alternate position.