A modified typewriter touted as the original Google appliance is, in fact, a well-crafted fake, the Skeptics Society, Mr Vintage and a font expert says.

The device, an object known as a ‘typewriter‘, was said to have contained the template for Google, the popular search engine, as well as a strikingly similar name (“Goggle”).

Embossed on one side is an inscription in the ancient font of Catull bearing the letters: “GO GLE.” It appears that this once said GOGGLE but the experts were split on whether the faint outline of the missing letter was an ‘O’ or a ‘G’.

Experts say: “The font isn’t the right type”.

Officials with Mr Vintage, a Retro Authority, announced on Wednesday that while the writer may date from the correct era, the inscription is a forgery added at a much later date.

“The inscription appears new, embossed in modernity by someone attempting to reproduce ancient written characters,” the officials said in the statement.

They said that a panel of font designers lead by guru Kris Sowersby had agreed unanimously with the findings.

The device first came to public attention last Friday when zef[a]media published a story on Jack Wyndham, a struggling beekeeper who claimed he had invented the original blueprint and a working prototype for Google Chrome, a new type of web browser.

However, after viewing the browser prototype once it appeared on a New Zealand trading website Trade Me (then later Flickr, Digg, Facebook, Twitter and TV3 Nightline), the team of Skeptics concluded that the finding was incorrect.

“The typewriter is real. But the inscription is fake,” the Skeptics Society told zef[a]media.

“What this means is that somebody took a real typewriter and forged the writing on it, probably to give it a religious significance,” a Skeptical spokesperson added.

The committee said another indication that the Goggle was not all it was claimed to be was that the chrome from which it was hewn was more likely to have originated in England or Northern Ireland than Milton.

However, Skinny La Veal, a Wellington country singer, dismissed the findings.

“I am certain the Goggle Type is real and I am certain that the Skeptics Society is wrong regarding its conclusions,” he said.

La Veal had earlier said he had problems with the Society and its methods of investigation saying they had “preconceived notions.”

He said he had bid on the Goggle Type at a charity auction earlier in the week from a dealer in Kapiti, but he was unable to remember the dealer’s name.

Typewriters were commonly used by families between the late 1700’s and 1980 A.D. to store words on paper (a.k.a. documents).

In 1971, Jack Wyndham obtained a New Zealand patent for a device that, from the patent, appears to have been similar to a Google. Zef[a]media attempted to locate Wyndham but he has reportedly “gone bush”, hunting for veroa mites in the Nelson territory.

Jack Wyndham invented the Goggle Chrome Appliance and founded the Milton Beekeeping Society. He talks with zef[a]media.

You invented the Goggle Chrome Type Appliance?

Jack Wyndham - inventor and beekeeper from atop his Milton cottage. Photo by Brooklyn Hilary.

I came up with the idea of a quick-search sheet for cataloguing honey varieties (and bees) down copper telephone lines in 1957 when I was 39, and patented it in 1971. I had developed a working prototype in 1959. We had orders worth £199 from some Dunedin librarians for our modified Imperial typewriter when we lost control of the patent. There was a raid attempt by the Muldoon government in 1975 and we couldn’t raise enough money to pay the patent fees in time. So the patent was voided.

Do you have the virtual-appliance replica of your invention, the Google Chrome browser?

No. I like Google Chrome, but it feels a bit unfair to have to download one. I could show you my prototype from 1959 and there is the search cataloguing template – same layout, underlines. It feels like mine.

What gadgets and technology do you use?

I’m a bit of a bee nut. I am always fiddling with bits of wax and wire. I use a carrier pigeon as my phone so my mail is permanently in transit. I was the only one able to send messages during the floods last year. I spend a lot of time watching bumble bees. I find it hard to imagine a world without bees.

Does the Milton Beekeeping Society (MBS) rely on your Goggle Chrome Type Appliance?

Not very much. It’s a bit outdated to tell the truth so they all use unlocked first generation iPhones. We have four members and nine affiliated clubs around the country who can freely access the Goggle but they prefer Yahoo and Twitter. Beekeepers have always worked in isolation and we’re used to being stung by big business. MBS is bringing everyone together and it is starting to make a difference.

What is your latest invention?

Beedriod (Bee for “Beeline” and driod from “Android”) is an open-source system for making a beeline to relevant search results from anywhere. The problem with Google (the search engine) is that you always get results, but how do you know it’s the right result? I liken it to a stack of needles inside a haystack. All they’re giving you is the most magnetic needle. But what about the sharpest needle in the needle stack? I think this will eventually be bigger than the Goggle Chrome Appliance and perhaps even Google itself.

Anything else up your sleeve?

In the past 11 days, I have come up with the antidote to mash-ups. I call it the monster-mash and it’s the ultimate mash-up to end all mash-ups. Only one person knows the technical details and the plans were in transit but the pigeon went missing somewhere in the vicinity of Mountain View.

The Milton Beekeeping Society, which Wyndham founded, will be selling raw propolis this Saturday morning at the Otago Farmers Market. See www.otagofarmersmarket.org.nz or ask for Toki.

With the “Goggle Type Appliance” making the TV3 Nightline news last night, many people have been asking “…so what’s the difference between Goggle and Google?”

Here’s a side-by-side comparison of a Goggle-generated document and a Google-generated webpage…

[A] A slight variation in spelling.

[B] The key topic or phrase is wrapped in a box.

[C] A note of how many copies on file.

[D] A cross reference to another document – underlined and coloured for emphasis.

[E] The size of the document.

[F] Origin of the document.

[G] Cataloging by type of content.

[H] Related content.