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During one of our weekly brain trust catch ups, my brother and I turned to talking about cameras and spies. I think we may have rambled at length about microfilm before my brother dropped this gem of a topic - Minox once made a portable film developing tank that you could use on the go

I found a write up on this device by Julian Tanase, who owns one. The imagination runs wild with cold war spies in cramped apartments, loading the tank inside a satchel, cranking the handle, pulling out incontrovertible evidence of treachery.

Speaking of microfilm - did you know that it has an expected lifespan of 500 years? Compared to all the digital archive media, it cannot be beaten - you’d have trouble resurrecting tech from 1996, but microfilm from 1980 can be read with a light and a magnifying glass. I look forward to seeing it at the library’s archives for decades to come.