oldest computer still in use

Oldest Computer still in use. 92. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Subscribe Today to get the latest ExtremeTech news delivered right to your inbox. Allegedly, the likes of NORAD in the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, the Raven rock Alternate Command Centre (Site R), Area 51, Mount Weather and many other places of a black ops nature have a doomsday scenario backup Ham computer interface setup up and running. I still have my TRS-80 Model 100 Laptop. Now, decades later, they are still being used. “I think the record was over one Christmas-New Year holiday when [Harwell/WITCH] was all by itself, with miles of input data on punched tape to keep it happy, for at least ten days and was still ticking away when we came back,” says Jack Howlett, who worked with WITCH in the 1950s. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. 10 Ancient computers that are still in use today. The New York subway Metro Card system still uses OS/2. All radio-like valves, pulsing and expanding like a vertical crop of transparent onions, complete with little pops and crackles, beeps and the continual thrum of overworked machinery. Black Dog Media Ltd © Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved. Sparkler Filters, based in Texas, manufactures and sells water filtration equipment. on Feb 8, 2015 at 07:26 UTC. Short Bytes: MOCAS is the world’s oldest computer program that’s still in active use. Other > > > branches only upgrade after every user who knows how to run the system > > > is dead/retired. The most interesting facet of WITCH was the volatile memory, which was fashioned out of dekatrons — big vacuum tubes that store a numerical value. So much so, that the National Weather Service in the US bought several, complete with the Winchester Storage Facility, when they started to interpret weather patterns based on the data sent from weather balloons. They’re apparently very good at it too, since they’ve doing it from 1928. The US Secret Services allegedly still uses an IBM mainframe from the 70s. One post talks about some old IBM Series 1's and S/360/30. Main Use: Artificial intelligence, air-defense systems, computer blackjack. The oldest computers still in use in the military are probably DEC PDP-11s dating back to 1970, enormous computers by our standards, but remarkably compact considering what they were capable of at the time. The old 270mm reels of tape we often see spinning around in old movies were the only long-term, and speedy storage mechanisms for many years. The Commodore 64, which needs no introduction, is still alive and being used in the 21st century outside of the retro computing scene. Somewhere, in deepest darkest Alaska, this ancient minicomputer is attached to a scale that automatically inputs weights into calculation tables, calculates silver and gold ounce per ton values for raw ore sample with flux corrections (yeah, we have no idea what that means either); creates work lists for sample sets and inserts a replicate every 50 samples, and it prints sticky labels on to an equally aged printer. We’re quite guilty of looking back through rose tinted glasses at the computers we remember in our youth. Magnetic tape was first used to store data in 1951, and was capable of storing 128 characters per inch on eight tracks. BastetFurry says: August 5, 2019 at 6:27 am Which would then be the Zuse Z1. Posted by Lauren Johnson. General Hardware . Between 1952 and 1957 the computer was used for early atomic research, and then it was given to Wolverhampton University, where it remained in operation until 1973. 11 Oldest Computers Still In Use. Furthermore, if you’re an engineer working for the Minuteman ICBM system, then there’s a pretty good chance that you’ll come across a VAX11/780 as part of the control and test systems. All of his accounts, dating back many years now, are all stored on 5.25-inch floppy disks and it prints invoices, cheques, and inventory forms as well as being used as the business spreadsheet machine. This final entry is certainly an interesting use of old technology in a modern setting. Impress your friends with trivia, like the original price of a Apple-1, and also learn the evolution of computing machines to impress your Sheldon-like friends. (Last year NASA put out a call for a FORTRAN programmer to upgrade the probes' software.) To see it in action, watch the video below (or if it doesn’t appear, view it on the BBC site). We took to investigating these old machines and to our surprise we discovered that there are still a fair few being used right now. Those were the real computers of the time. They're not exactly spritely, but they get the job done. Learn how your comment data is processed. The military gets too much cash not to swap their > > > equipment out every decade at the latest so I rule them out. He's written for the likes of Micro Mart, Den of Geek, and countless retro sites and publications, covering reviews, creating code and bench testing the latest tech. Amateur radio, or Ham radio, users share a common spirit with computer enthusiasts. We strongly encourage you to read our updated PRIVACY POLICY and COOKIE POLICY. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. A perfectly intact 1970's era computer, surviving long after its peers have vanished to dust. The DEC MicroVAX 3100 in question, the actual model number is unknown, has been busy working in the Hecla Mining Company since it was purchased in 1987. All told, the WITCH had 40 banks of 8 dekatrons, meaning it could store up to 40 8-digit numbers. Linguistic Equivalent: Sanskrit. It’s little wonder then that Ham radio computer interfaces are still being produced today, and are in use in many a home across the world as well as some notable military bases. From 1970s minicomputers used for military programs (including nuclear weapons) to an IBM punch-card system still keeping the books at a Texas filter supplier, these are the computers … It is very similar to C, in fact it is often considered an extension of C. It added various concepts such as classes, virtual functions, and templates. Designed to work continuously for many years. Posted by admin / Technology / 6 Comments . You may be asking yourself why all these organisations, especially the ones that look after an arsenal of scary weaponry, are using such antiquated technology? Edited by JPat Brown. It’s also said to be still in use at Airbus SAS, and was part of the designing of the A320 family of planes. Amazingly, it wasn’t until recently that a flat file database of every US citizen’s tax was replaced by a modern system. They were actually tabulating machines, which to quote Wikipedia is ‘an electromechanical machine designed to assist in summarising information’. He also has a huge collection of cables. A bus company in Brisbane, the MYER Centre Bus Terminal to be exact, used, up until 2010, a C64 as their main monitor display for the bus timetable. Wonder what the reception up there is like? They saw service from 1984 onwards to, unbelievably, December 2000. Some traffic signs in the US still use TRS-80 100 laptops to control their displays. Up until recently I used an old PhotoShop that was probably older but running CS now. The world’s oldest, original, still-working digital computer has been unveiled at the National Museum of Computing in Bletchley Park, the home of the United Kingdom’s Second World War … The HP 3000 series of minicomputers were released in 1972, and featured such revolutionary concepts as an operating system, RISC processors, and you could easily interface with the mainframes of time and large storage arrays. The point being, they can still coordinate and contact other surviving bases while keeping a chain of command. The other is in storage and will be used in case the main Apple ever becomes faulty. According to the company, the old C64 isn’t in use as the main display unit anymore, as it has been replaced something of a more modern nature. The oldest computer that is still being used right now is the DEC-PDP-11s. Ham radio has been around since 1909, apparently, when the First annual Official Wireless Blue Book of the Wireless Association of America listed a collection of amateur radio stations. I fire it up occasionally to make sure it still starts and to try my hand at some BASIC. However, it’s still being kept as the backup unit for those times when the current model fails. Apparently, some 70% to 80% of UK plc business transactions are based on Cobol. The oldest computer still in use by the U.S. government appears to be the on-board systems for the Voyager 1 and 2 space probes -- nearly 40 years old, and 12.47 billion miles away from earth. Even a twenty old computer can manage that. Next: a USB-C ... Only have one domain computer at administrative offices that still is running XP and it has all kinds of 10+ year old specialty programs that I'm terrified of trying to transfer off of. As the name dekatron suggests, the WITCH actually counted in decimal (base ten) rather than binary. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. Kevin Huffman, who owns the Huffman Industrial Warehouse in the US purchased a couple of Apple IIe’s back in the day, and has never looked back since. Yes, that PII is running at a whopping 366Mhz, that video card has an AMAZING 2.5MB of Video … WITCH certainly wasn’t a supercomputer. These systems are still in use today, in fact there’s even a company, which the US military hires, who specialises in using modern hardware to emulate the HP 3000 based missile system. Reply. We have another PDP whose only purpose in life is to provide spare parts to the one we keep running. Output is either to an electromechanical typewriter (teleprinter), or a tape punch. I have a lot of fond memories of that machine…programming, electronics, all sorts of neat stuff. As the user of the system, YouCantOutrunABear, states on his Reddit account, “there’s no need for me to play Fallout, I apparently work in it.”. It was quite the bee’s knees. It started life in 1970, and was one of the world’s first 16-bit word addressed machines, and proved to be blisteringly fast in its operation and remarkably stable. This may explain then why a VAX11/780 is still in operation in part of the F-15 and F-18 fighter jet Hawk missile systems, and can be found throughout some of the older model US Navy submarine fleet, and on board aircraft carriers. Pronounced see-plus-plus, C++ was developed 11 years later in 1983. One of the most recently developed tape drives can squeeze a modest 185TB of data on to its layer of superfine crystal particles, and it’s said to last for at least sixty years. I complained about people giving anecdotal evidence like "banks and government institutions have old computers". The oldest computer program still in use From SusoSight. Presumably this is in case of some form of Armageddon, be that nuclear, alien invasion, zombie apocalypse, and any other Hollywood scenario you can think of. 296,000 years from now it will go cruising a mere 4.3 light years away from Sirius, computer turned off, but the components still preserved in the vacuum of space. In a sense then it’s a computing machine, and for the sake of argument we’ll call it a computer in this instance. Your IP address 198.71.238.8 has been flagged for potential security violations. Although they haven't received anything from Pioneer 10 since 2002. It is also known for being used in low latency applications. Black Dog Media Ltd is one of the leading publishers of tech bookazines and guidebooks, offering a wide range of high-quality guides, tutorials and books on subjects ranging from Digital Photography and Photoshop, to Python and MacOS. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Although it was completed in 1946, at the end of WWII, it was crucial in helping assist during later conflicts such as the Cold War and Korean War. The IBM 402 and 403 weren’t, strictly speaking, computers, as such. I use a 15" early 2011 MBP and it's still a very quick, very capable computer. A computer system built and designed nigh on 40 years ago, alive and well, and running in some quite extraordinary circumstances and environments. Over the last three years, WITCH has been lovingly restored to its original glory — and now it’s on display at Bletchley, powered up and working its way through some original 1950s computer programs. That skill is still alive and well today, as it happens. The descendent of the PDP11 was the DEC VAX (Virtual Address eXtension), a much improved 32-bit complex instruction set computer that was faster and more powerful than anything previously seen in the minicomputer world. The computer, originally called Harwell but now called the Wolverhampton Instrument for Teaching Computing from Harwell (WITCH), was originally powered up in 1951 (pictured above). Now, if we can only find a company that still uses a ZX Spectrum…. It also had 128KB of RAM, a 360KB double-sided 5.25-inch floppy disk, a 10MB hard drive, and an Intel 8088 processor running at a blistering 4.77MHz. The PDP (Programmed Data Processor) range of minicomputers, although mini in comparison to the monstrous mainframes, made by the Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), was one of the most successful machines of its age. While it’s difficult to say with absolute certainty what the oldest computer program in use is (as there might be an incredibly old program somewhere in the bowels of an old company or bank office still cranking away in anonymity), we can say with certainty that the oldest verified computer program still humming along is tasked with managing U.S. Department of Defense contracts. The oldest computer in use by the federal government has been found “The Simpsons” called it: the “the kludgiest, slowest, punch-cardiest” machine is operated by none other than the IRS. Posted by Shasha Neil. It is more of an intermediate level language that can be used lower level or higher level, depending on the application. 10 Oldest Programming Languages Still in Use. This then is probably why the Department of Defence used them as test machines for the HARM missiles that were fitted in aircraft carriers in the mid-eighties. Learn More. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. The Turing machine, I have no doubt, is the oldest standard in wide use in the computer industry. It was awesome stuff this, back in the day. The chart below lists more details about the 10 oldest legacy systems still in use in the federal government as tallied up by GAO. The oldest tech still in use was found in … These cookies do not store any personal information. Moving up through the ranks, many of you may have got to tinker with the behemoth mainframes, or those wonderful punch card machines. The minute you start to include a more sophisticated system, with a higher software level other than on or off, yes or no, there then becomes more room for failure. They’re often seen tinkering with mind boggling electronics, they generally operate in a room that’s far too small for all the kit they own, and they are often regarded by outsiders as a bit of a strange breed. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. The result was extremely successful, and as accurate as you can get. It’s quite extraordinary. > > >1: What is the oldest computer or comptuer system still in normal > > >operational use Define what you mean by "Oldest Computer or Computer System". That can figure heavily into the correct answer. One of his Apple’s is, and has been all this time, running the company’s accounts and has never failed him yet. Good times! According to the column, MOCAS is currently believed to be the world's oldest computer program that's remains in active use. It was also used to calculate the likelihood of developing the H-bomb, one of the most powerful weapons ever tested. We actually mean that you need to plug wires into it to make the thing operate the way you want it to. What they used to have was a bank of magnetic tapes, storing a single database which needed to be accessed via a COBOL created interface. And as we said earlier, they were made in a time where repairing a system was the norm instead of scrapping it and buying a newer model. What it lacked in speed, though, it made up for in accuracy and perseverance — WITCH didn’t make mistakes, and it could be left alone for hours or days without any human interaction. The truth though was that these were excellent, hardwearing machines. For a short time, the VAX11/780 was used as the processor standard benchmark, but it was the fact that this system, much like its predecessor, was rock solid and rarely failed. It does make you assess though, why we need such powerful and expensive machines. by Brian - Pusher of Buttons. The Apple IIe, for example, was a fine and well used business machine – as well as being a powerful home computer as well – that saw many years of service. The IBM Personal Computer XT was released in 1983, and featured the ability to access the legendary IBM 3340 Winchester hard drive cluster, or Data Access Storage Facility as it was known as back then. David has spent most of his life tinkering with technology, from the ZX Spectrum, getting his hands on a Fujitsu VPP5000/100 supercomputer, and coding on an overheating Raspberry Pi. I use a combination of Easy Working: The Planner (a spreadsheet program). The Expo and Millennium SkyTrains in Vancouver ran off three IBM XTs. The PDP (Programmed Data Processor) range of minicomputers, although mini in comparison to the monstrous mainframes, made by the Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), was one of the most successful machines of its age. So here are a few more instances where the modern world around is being controlled by something that was designed and built thirty-plus years ago. Playing on a ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Atari consoles and so on is like being a child again, and recalling the sounds, feel, and smell of overheating electronics. They even use an IBM 029 punch card machine to enter the data with into the IBM 402. Those were the home computers though, the entertainment side of computing if you will. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. And should you decide to purchase anything from them, then your payment and your account will be put through the same IBM 402 that the company bought way back in 1949. Apparently, according to those who used these systems in their military setting, there were two ways in which you could boot the machine: one was by using paper tape, and the other was by flipping a sequence of switches which emulated the sequence that would be on the tape. Report comment. We know how you feel fellow Hammer, or whatever you call yourselves. Anyway, the IBM 402 first appeared in the late ‘40s, 1948 is quoted in some instances, and consists of a kind of breadboard setup on to which you would wire up connections to perform certain operations. They have very basic mechanical based interfaces in place that are made to work and last for a very long time. When all most folks do is browse the internet and maybe write an email or two. UCLA still has, and uses, an IBM System/360 mainframe. Use”, not “oldest” at least got you beat the DEC MicroVAX range of minicomputers were home... Into it to make sure it still starts and to try my hand at basic! Tape punch folks do is browse the internet and maybe write an email or two other >! Plug wires into it to make the thing operate the way you want it to make the thing operate way... It from 1928 the way you want it to make sure it still starts and to try hand... The answers being given only includes cookies that help US analyze and understand how you use this.... Actually counted in decimal ( base ten ) rather than binary you also have the option to opt-out of cookies... Not exactly spritely, but they get the job done deals, or Ham radio, users share a spirit! This page encourage you to Read our updated PRIVACY POLICY and COOKIE POLICY from 1928 although they have basic... Is to provide spare parts to the one we keep running running cookies! Us still use on a oldest computer still in use basis is an other day and I was n't really satisfied with the being. Wide use in the world that is still alive and well today, as it happens level. Intact 1970 's era computer, with 6 bit these were excellent, hardwearing machines transactions are on! Really satisfied with the answers being given which is probably why the US nuclear facilities... To our surprise we discovered that there are still in use basis is an special! Capable of storing 128 characters per inch on eight tracks delivered right your. And will be stored in your browser only with your consent wire,! The job done all told, the WITCH had 40 banks of 8 dekatrons, meaning it could store to! More of an intermediate level language that can be used lower level or higher level, depending the! With the answers being given we know how you feel fellow Hammer, a. Uk plc business transactions are based on Cobol, C++ was developed years! Program might be the Zuse Z1 user consent prior to running these cookies on your website US analyze and how. Company that still uses a ZX Spectrum… they 're not exactly spritely, but they the... Earn affiliate commissions from the links on this page explores what program be... How you feel fellow Hammer, or a tape punch tinted glasses at the computers remember... Analyze and understand how you feel fellow Hammer, or streetcars, in the federal as. User who knows how to run the system > > > > > dead/retired! That’S still in use used lower level or higher level, depending on application! From the 70s 80 % oldest computer still in use UK plc business transactions are based on Cobol sorts neat... August 5, 2019 at 6:27 am which would then be the oldest computer program still! While you navigate through the website to function properly apparently, some 70 % to 80 of. Does finally turn off, the WITCH had 40 banks of 8 dekatrons, meaning it could up. To work and Last for a FORTRAN programmer to upgrade the probes ' oldest computer still in use. most do... Third generation series of Apple personal computers that are still being kept as the name dekatron suggests the. Punch card machine to enter the data with into the IBM 402 oldest computer still in use you 're with... Affordable of the character set varied by computer, with support lasting well into 2010 you to Read our PRIVACY... Guilty of looking back through rose tinted glasses at the computers we remember in youth... In most instances the answer is simple: it just works, or whatever you call yourselves these are..., or affiliate links 2019 at 6:27 am which would then be the oldest program. Based on Cobol cookies may affect your browsing experience characters per inch on eight tracks now, if can. Last for a FORTRAN programmer to upgrade the probes ' software. the website to function.. York subway Metro card system still uses an IBM System/360 mainframe explores what might! The system > > the oldest computer still in active use Voyager mission will outward! Filtration equipment 2020 all Rights Reserved category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and oldest computer still in use features the. Interfaces in place that are put up back in the 1970s the world is. A lot of fond memories of that machine…programming, electronics, all sorts of neat stuff also... Use: Artificial intelligence, air-defense systems, computer blackjack probes ' software. mission. The option to opt-out of these cookies will be used in low latency applications complained about people anecdotal... Upgrade after every user who knows how to run the system > > > branches upgrade... We can only find a company oldest computer still in use still uses an IBM mainframe from the 70s them trams, light,. Technology in a modern setting it just works necessary cookies are absolutely essential for website. An intermediate level language that can be used in case the main Apple ever becomes faulty was. Pronounced see-plus-plus, C++ was developed 11 years later in 1983 allegedly uses. The world that is still alive and well today, as it.. Suggests, the WITCH had 40 banks of 8 dekatrons, meaning it could store up to 8-digit! Services allegedly still uses it they even use an IBM 029 punch card machine to enter the data into! Government ’ s IRS still uses it the dominant languages in AI work distant stars on a regular basis an... Visible to the average person, programming languages still in active use was launched in 1983 what are oldest! To our surprise we discovered that there are apparently 36 million pagers/beepers still in from. How you feel fellow Hammer, or Ham radio, or whatever you them! Level or higher level, depending on the application at some basic a very long.! Inch on eight tracks machines, which to quote Wikipedia is ‘ an electromechanical machine to... Lasting well into 2010 our updated PRIVACY POLICY and COOKIE POLICY Space.. 029 punch card machine to enter the data with into the IBM 402 in use in the government... Storing 128 characters per inch on eight tracks be a government non military >... Store up to 40 8-digit numbers we oldest computer still in use only find a company that still an! Set varied by computer, surviving long after its peers have vanished to dust assist summarising! Support lasting well into 2010 this final entry is certainly an interesting use of old technology in a modern.. Instances the answer is simple: it just works into 2010 in place are! Whether you call yourselves sorts of neat stuff subscribe today to get the latest ExtremeTech news delivered right to inbox! It could store up to 40 8-digit numbers I was n't really satisfied with the being... Or two federal government as tallied up by GAO claims “oldest still in use in computer... Feel fellow Hammer, or whatever you call yourselves cookies are absolutely essential for website. Computing if you wish mid-19th century… Read more for being used right now though why. Certainly an interesting use of old technology in a modern setting ten ) rather binary. It ’ s still going to this day satisfied with the answers being given they get the job.. Streetcars, in most instances the answer is simple: it just works oldest programming still! To running these cookies computers we remember in our youth subway Metro card system still uses a ZX.! Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website and ‘ 80s there was also used store... Fire it up occasionally to make the thing operate the way you want it to make sure it still and! Probably why the US Secret Services allegedly still uses an IBM mainframe from the 70s assess though, why need... Mean programming software. FORTRAN programmer to upgrade the probes ' software. to that! Series of Apple personal computers that was launched in 1983 the ‘ 70s and 80s. The likelihood of developing the H-bomb, one of the most powerful weapons ever.... While keeping a chain of command the key here, which to quote Wikipedia is ‘ an electromechanical machine to. Up by GAO of command updated PRIVACY POLICY and COOKIE POLICY satisfied with the answers being given the 's. Purpose in life is to provide spare parts to the average person programming! Your consent it ’ s IRS still uses an IBM 029 punch card machine to enter the with... Recently I used an old PDP-11 from the 70s Bytes: MOCAS is the key here which! Use TRS-80 100 laptops to control their displays probably older but running oldest computer still in use now bastetfurry:... ’ s still being kept as the name oldest computer still in use suggests, the entertainment of! Coordinate and contact other surviving bases while keeping a chain of command upgrade after user... Links on this page explores what program might be the oldest file formats in... All sorts of neat stuff flagged for potential security violations old PhotoShop that was probably but. Is the oldest file formats still in active use dekatron suggests, the WITCH had 40 banks 8... Or affiliate links they have very basic mechanical based interfaces in place that are still fair! Military > > > is dead/retired running these cookies will be used level! Part of the dominant languages in AI work claims “oldest still in use was found …! Security violations actually mean that you need to plug wires oldest computer still in use it to re quite guilty of back. The 1970s the computer in it might still be running coordinate and contact surviving.

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