Geek Chic

Okay. I confess it. I’m a technophiliac. I’m a sucker for high-tech-gadgets gadgets … no matter how expensive or unnecessary they may be. Even defunct technology exerts a strange power over me. So I was delighted to find a great little gallery on Boing Boing: “Ten Beautiful Computers.” Featuring examples of some of the most whiz-bang technologies of all times, the list (compiled by Rob Beschizza) includes the:

• ZX Spectrum
• Cray 2
• PDP-10
• Antikythera Mechanism
• Sinclair ZX80
• Macintosh G4 Cube
• Ingraham
• CPC-464
• Difference Engine
• D-Wave Quantum Computer

My personal favorite: the Antikythera mechanism (seen in the image above, before reconstruction). Dating to about 150 BC, this gem of the collection is the oldest known complex mechanical computer.