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It's a shame your 6yo self didn't have a microscope around, or even a decent magnifying glass!

Zebra-strip is incredibly distinct once you're viewing it up close, and I bet its function would've immediately clicked upon seeing the structure.

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Oh, I had a cheap magnifying glass; And I had access to a "Community Science Center" where they would have let me use a high-school-class microscope if I begged enough* . The problem was it didn't even occur to me to take that tiny rubbery strip that seriously. True shame really - by that time I had taken apart enough LCD calculators for there to be nothing surprising in any of them. This was the first surprise, in a while. I really should have focused on figuring it out. Just never occurred to me that the 10mmx1mmx1mm thingy was such an awesome thing.

*for free too; It was my favorite Saturday hangout spot - watching lab demonstrations, animal dissections etc, playing with the ever-changing interactive science demos).

Oof. Yeah. I have my own "I could've done something amazing if I'd just realized I needed to push on that thing that didn't look like a button" moment as a kid. A little nudge of guidance would've gone a long way.

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