FELD is a defunct computer engineering company.
Background[ | ]
FELD started out as a midway electronics outfit in Königstein two centuries ago. After an aggressive move to Revachol, FELD became a global player in the emerging personal electronics market of the pre-Revolutionary era.
FELD was involved in the computer engineering business. While Tricentennial was beating them in business machines,[1] the company was rapidly developing a breakthrough technology, a feat of engineering even mid-Current Century giants like Ream, ICN, and ZAMM couldn't achieve: FELD Playback Experiment, a tape-based computer. The device was very elegant, fragile even. One could write directly on the tape using a special chemical solution. The machine would then analyze the handwriting, perform operations and project output onto a white screen. It was a beautiful delicate thing made of black film, folding tape structures.
Unfortunately their moonshot project never made to the market. FELD's move to Revachol backfired. The Revolutionary government liquefied their assets and expropriated those very advanced prototypes. FELD engineers were shot by the revolutionaries and the three prototypes lost during the fires of '07. A fourth prototype is speculated to remain in the mausoleums below Coal City.[2]
By '51 all that remains of the once proud company is Feld Electrical, a small company that makes ink cartridges and ferrotape.
References[ | ]
- ↑ Harrier Du Bois: "I don't think I've ever heard of this Feld Electrical."
Trant Heidelstam: "That's not surprising. Only a vestigial ink cartridge and ferrotape manufacturer remains." He adjusts his suit jacket. "They started out as a midway electronics outfit in Königstein two centuries ago. After an aggressive move to Revachol, Feld became a global player in the emerging personal electronics market of the pre-Revolutionary era. Still, Tricentennial was beating them in business machines." He gestures toward the building. "But Feld had an ace up their sleeve. Or, should I say, they were *developing* an ace up their sleeve?..." He grins. "I'm mixing my metaphors here." - ↑ Harrier Du Bois: "Why did the revolutionaries destroy it?"
Trant Heidelstam: "Who knows? Maybe it was an accident, or maybe they didn't want the technology to end up in the wrong hands. Either way -- they're all gone now, all three versions of the prototype. Nothing but debris and ashes remains inside that building." He takes a step back; the boardwalk creaks mournfully in the wind.
Shivers: "Two seagulls circle in the sky. You look up and think: really? Or was there a fourth prototype that remains hidden in the mausoleums below Coal City?..."