Britain's classic computers: A silicon.com special

Take a look through the Bletchley Park archives

Post a comment
Print

By silicon.com, 2 October 2008 16:55

NEWS

While Bletchley Park may be best known for housing the Enigma code-breaking machine during World War II, the former intelligence facility is still home to numerous tech treasures in the National Museum of Computing.

Hardware on display includes one of Britain's first business computers, the Elliott 803, and the PACE TR-48, one of the earliest torpedo simulators, made by Electronic Associates to simulate the firing of torpedoes underwater.

These and many other machines are part of the archives at the National Museum of Computing, which houses all manner of vintage techie kit preserved for posterity, including the BBC Micro and the ZX Spectrum.

Whether Bletchley can keep the nation's tech heritage on display indefinitely is by no means certain - the museum is suffering from "ravages of age and a lack of investment" and is seeking an injection of government funds.

Here's the best of Bletchley's classic machines in photos and videos:

Photos: Britain's first business computer

Video: The Elliott 803 in action

Photos: Early analogue torpedo simulator

Video: The PACE TR-48 missile detector

Photos: Missile detecting DEC computer

Video: How the DEC spotted covert nuclear testing

Photos: A dip into Bletchley's classic PC archive

Video: The History of British of PCs

Bletchley Park future under colossal threat

UK failing to respect computing heritage

Celebrating 60 years of computing

Bletchley Park restoration short on funds

Computing museum at risk of being thing of the past

Post a comment
Print

Post your comment

In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.

Latest Hardware stories

Featured white papers

Vulnerability Management Buyer's Checklist

Qualys

Key Questions to Ask Before You Select a VM Solution Choosing a solution for Vulnerability Management (VM) is a critical step toward protecting your organisation's network and data. Without proven, automated technology for precise detection and remediation, no network can withstand the daily onslaught of new vulnerabilities that threaten security. To help finalise your decision on which solution to buy, Qualys provides this 12-point short list of considerations that will help you determine what will work best for your organisation.

Download now »
Creating a Dynamic Infrastructure through Virtualization

IBM

In almost every case,the transformation to a dynamic infrastructure will involve virtualization.Many IT professionals think of virtualization specifically in terms of servers.IBM,however,has a broader perspective,in which virtualization is seen as a generalapproach to decouple logical resources from physical elements,so that thoseresources can be allocated faster,more cost-effectively and more dynamically,wherever the business requires them in real time to ideally meet changingdemand levels or business requirements.

Download now »
How IP geolocation can improve your website experience and marketing activity

Quova

With geolocation technology, you can know a web user's real world whereabouts. This report examines the benefits from the fictional retailer's point of view. Things-4-You- a thriving online business, which had a poor record in converting online visitors into buying customers. Things-4-You demonstrates the potential of IP geolocation online. retailers.

Download now »