One of Polistra’s rules is:
Constraint makes good design. Freedom makes bad design.
Tablet magazine has a DELIGHTFUL article on a lost NYC Jewish technology, which flourished in the 1930s.
Writing on the Sabbath is forbidden, but raising funds at a synagogue is permitted. The fundraising had to be recorded, for monetary bookkeeping and for potlatch bookkeeping. Donors want to be known and influential. The article describes a related non-tech tradition (shnuddering) which is even more potlatchy.
The Sabbath limitation was solved in two different ways. First with a Tetris-like grid of letters and numbers that could be arranged to spell the name and amount of the donor.
Second with a ledger in the form of a wheel chart. Dials could be turned to record the donations for various purposes. Wheel charts are an old tradition, almost as old as the slide rule for pure math. Every profession used wheel charts for its own numerical or logical formulas**.
The Sabbath wheel chart strongly resembles an astrolabe or a Qibla, an Islamic technology created to help with another religious constraint. Prayer must always be directed toward Mecca. The astrolabe is a wheel chart plus alidade. The Qibla is a wheel chart plus compass.
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** Logical formulas: For example, an insurance salesman might have a wheel chart with wheels and cursors for client income bracket, occupation, type of protection wanted, and risk aversion. The solution window would show a category of policy.
Polistra's Mill 