Can you name this vintage tech?

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  • Think you know old tech?

    Think you know old tech?

    Nowadays, bleeding-edge tech tends to be sleek and small and easy on the eyes. It wasn't always.

    See how well you can do in this ultimate vintage tech quiz.

    Let's start with this porcupine-y thing. Know what it is?

    Photo by: TilTuli via YouTube

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • It's a circa-1951 UNIVAC I mercury memory tank ...

    It's a circa-1951 UNIVAC I mercury memory tank ...

    ... by Remington Rand, on display at the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley.

    Photo by: ZUMA Press/Corbis

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • This is a detail from ...

    This is a detail from ...

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • The original Fallout game (1997)

    The original Fallout game (1997)

    That's original hero Natalia in the vault suit. She's facing off against a radscorpion.

    Photo by: Bethesda

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • This is a part of ...

    This is a part of ...

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • IBM's System/360

    IBM's System/360

    The computer system debuted more than a half-century ago.

    Previous photo by: IBM

    Photo by: ZDNet via Wikipedia

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • This is ...

    This is ...

    Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, England, UK --- Buckinghamshire,Bletchley,Bletchley Park,German Enigma Machine --- Image by © Steven Vidler/Corbis

    Photo by: Steven Vidler/Corbis

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • The WWII Enigma code machine

    The WWII Enigma code machine

    The German device stumped Allies for years ... until Alan Turing and his Bletchley Park team famously helped to cracked it.

    Photo by: ZDNet

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • Name both the storage media and the hardware ...

    Name both the storage media and the hardware ...

    Here's a close-up of a floppy disk jutting out of an Apple II computer, which was available between 1977 and 1981.

    Right now the All About Apple Museum has no official relationship with Apple. That was not the case in the past. In 2005 the company sent a letter to the association running the museum and eventually invited a few of its representatives to Cupertino.

    Photo by: ZDNet

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • An Apple II and Disk II with a 5.25-inch disk

    An Apple II and Disk II with a 5.25-inch disk

    The Apple II computer was available between 1977 and 1981.

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • This is ...

    This is ...

    Before there was PlayStation, before XBOX, there was the NES. Sure, there were video game systems that came before it, such as the Atari 2600, Intellivision and Colecovision, but none of those really could produce arcade quality graphics and gameplay at home. This was the console that launched the Super Mario empire.

    Photo by: ZDNet

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • The Nintendo NES game system

    The Nintendo NES game system

    This was the console that launched the Super Mario empire ... and super-geeky messenger bags such as this one.

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • This happy little face could be found in ...

    This happy little face could be found in ...

    Photo by: Michael Toy and Glenn Wichman

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • Rogue

    Rogue

    This dungeon-crawling home computer game (circa 1980) used letters and keyboard symbols to depict walls, passages, monsters and treasure.

    Photo by: Michael Toy and Glenn Wichman

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • This is ...

    This is ...

    Hint: It's one of the first Windows-powered smartphones ever released.

    Photo by: ZDNet

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • The SPV Orange e100 ...

    The SPV Orange e100 ...

    ... and here's its cousin, the E200.

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • This is ...

    This is ...

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • IBM Naval Ordnance Research Calculator

    IBM Naval Ordnance Research Calculator

    Also known as NORC, this one-of-a-kind, first-generation vacuum tube computer went live in December 1954 and was likely the most powerful computer at the time.

    Photo by: IBM

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • This is ...

    This is ...

    Photo by: Steve Benway via YouTube

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • A Sinclair ZX81

    A Sinclair ZX81

    Debuted in 1981, this little computer was designed to be inexpensive. It sold for the 2015 equivalent of about $200. Check out Steve Benway's video for more on this small wonder.

    Photo by: ZDNet

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • Bonus if you can name both the game and the hardware ...

    Bonus if you can name both the game and the hardware ...

    Photo by: Steve Benway via YouTube

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • Crazy Kong on a Sinclair Timex 1000

    Crazy Kong on a Sinclair Timex 1000

    Steve Benway demonstrated the gameplay in a 2011 YouTube video. The Sinclair 1000 is a modified version of the ZX81.

    Photo by: Steve Benway via YouTube

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • This is ...

    This is ...

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • A Nokia 9000 communicator

    A Nokia 9000 communicator

    If you've never seen this 1996 model, one of the earliest of the smartphones, you're missing out on a wonderfully wacky piece of vintage tech. Check it out in this video.

    Photo by: MarcCEcases Technologica via YouTube

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • This is a detail from ...

    This is a detail from ...

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • Apple's eWorld

    Apple's eWorld

    Apple's answer to an AOL-like Internet portal service was available between June 1994 and March 1996.

    Photo by: Apple

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • This is ...

    This is ...

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • A punch card! And here's the IBM 029 Key Punch system

    A punch card! And here's the IBM 029 Key Punch system

    It debuted in 1954.

    Photo by: IBM

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • This is ....

    This is ....

    Photo by: ZDNet

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • The WS2000 modem

    The WS2000 modem

    This 80s-era modem, a favorite of early hackers, is now on display in Britain's National Museum of Computing.

    Photo by: Miracle Technology

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • This is ...

    This is ...

    Want to see a working model? Sure you do.

    Photo by: ZDNet

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • A Tandy 1400 laptop

    A Tandy 1400 laptop

    Photo by: Tandy/Radio Shack

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • This is ...

    This is ...

    The first PDA, the reason why this

    Photo by: Apple

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • The Apple Newton

    The Apple Newton

    An early entry in the PDA category, this cute little personal organizer debuted in 1993, but Steve Jobs killed the platform about five years later.

    Photo by: ZDNet

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • This is ...

    This is ...

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • The Colonel's Bequest

    The Colonel's Bequest

    The 1989 graphic-adventure game starred 1920s-era sleuth Laura Bow.

    Photo by: Sierra On-Line

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • This is ...

    This is ...

    The eMate 300 running the Newton operating system isn't one of the most successful Apple products: designed for the education market, it didn't last long. The item, the curators said, was donated to the museum by a collector who obtained it after a tough bargaining session with a Texan collector.

    Photo by: ZDNet

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • Apple eMate running a Newton OS

    Apple eMate running a Newton OS

    Designed for the education market, this PDA didn't last long after its 1997 debut.

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • This is ...

    This is ...

    Photo by: ZDNet

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • Tandy TRS-80 model 100

    Tandy TRS-80 model 100

    Released in 1983, this is one of the world's first truly portable computers. Want to see a teardown? Sure you do.

    Photo by: ZDNet

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • This is ...

    This is ...

    Photo by: Cyan

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • Riven

    Riven

    The 1997 game was the follow-up to the hit title Myst.

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • This is ...

    This is ...

    While home video was introduced in the form of VHS and Sony BetaMax years earlier, if you really wanted to enjoy the highest fidelity in home entertainment, you had to go LaserDisc, which was introduced by Pioneer Corporation in 1979. LaserDisc never caught on en masse due to the fact the players and the titles were expensive, but if you wanted the best sound and best video quality, nothing would beat it until DVD arrived 10 years later, in 1995.

    Photo by: ZDNet

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • A LaserDisc

    A LaserDisc

    Introduced by Pioneer Corporation in 1979, this storage media enjoyed a lot of hype before VCRs eventually won.

    Photo by: ZDNet

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • This is ...

    This is ...

    Photo by: U.S. Army

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • The ENIAC

    The ENIAC

    The Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer (ENIAC) was built between 1943 and 1945. It was the first general-purpose electronic digital computer, and it stretched 150 feet wide.

    Photo by: U.S. Army

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • This is ...

    This is ...

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

  • Scorched Earth

    Scorched Earth

    Designed in Borland C++, this turn-based artillery-combat game debuted in 1991.

    Photo by: Wendell Hicken

    Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

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A Sinclair ZX81

Debuted in 1981, this little computer was designed to be inexpensive. It sold for the 2015 equivalent of about $200. Check out Steve Benway's video for more on this small wonder.

Caption by: Leslie Gornstein

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