[Hemidakota]

There are some misconception in a normal Sunday School setting when teachers would point out that the translation was done by the Urim & Thummim alone. That is not the case. Apostle B.H. Roberts noted some earlier journal entries that revealed that Joseph had seer stones to aid him in this translation.

The Prophet possessed a Seer Stone, by which he was enabled to translate as well as with the Urim and Thummim, and for convenience he sometimes used the Seer Stone. Martin said further that the Seer Stone differed in appearance entirely from the Urim and Thummim that was obtained with the plates, which were two clear stones set in two rims, very much resembling spectacles, only they were larger.

The Seer Stone referred to here was a chocolate-colored, somewhat egg-shaped stone which the Prophet found while digging a well in company with his brother Hyrum, for a Mr. Clark Chase, near Palmyra, N. Y. It possessed the qualities of Urim and Thummim, since by means of it--as described above--as well as by means of the Interpreters found with the Nephite record, Joseph was able to translate the characters engraven on the plates. [6 B.H. Roberts, A Comprehensive History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Vol. 1 (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1957), 129.]

Looking at our current technology, storage devices in the near future will be replaced by Crystal Array Device. It has been in the works since the 1990s and should be on the market in the coming decade. Something to think about....