Picture 6 - close up of iPad 3 retina display
Do I win £5?
Reckon you know your computer history? Well, let's find out. Here's a set of 11 pictures taken from assorted old computers. Your mission Jim, should you accept it, is to identify what's in these pictures and what's the computer or computer device they were found in. I'll follow this article up with another in a week or two's …
There is a need here to clear the air. Several posters have taken exception to the posting of these pictures because they are available at www.rcsri.org, the website of the Retro-Computing Society of Rhode Island. The implication is that The Register snagged, scarfed or otherwise somehow misappropriated these images from us. To the contrary, the RCS/RI has been working closely with Chris Mellor of The Register to make these images available to the wider world; to those folks who would not otherwise know of the RCS/RI. We are rather delighted to find out that we are already better known than we'd expected, and we hope that this article will make us even better known. The RCS/RI is an all-volunteer private organization, funded by its members (Although if you'd like to kick in a few bucks, let us know!), that collects, refurbishes and operates antique computers, generally but not exclusively associated with New England. We feel that the preservation of our technological heritage is well worth the pain and trouble that doing so requires. It's also a lot of fun. We have an Open House on the third Saturday of every month at our facility at the Atlantic Mill in Providence, RI, and we invite you to come visit our collection. And thereby to see for yourself what's in these pictures. Details may be found on our website, www.rcsri.org.
-Geoffrey G. Rochat, Member, Retro-Computing Society of Rhode Island
And Ma Bell used to use the terms longitudinal and metallic when they meant differential and single-ended, and measured resistance in feet. The several computer companies that I've worked for, Back In Ye Olde Dayes, had as engineering policy to wrap insulation around the post in what was known as "modified wrap," and would reject wire-wrapping jobs otherwise. So what you're seeing was mostly likely intentional.
There's just no accounting for taste.