Frequent failureImage by ENIAC used over 17,000 vacuum tubes. TexasDex/Wikipedia.The early computers of the vacuum-tube age were marvels of engineering for their time. Today, we can simultaneously appreciate the advances these computers represented, making previously unthinkable computational work possible, and chuckle at what to us seems like their ludicrous size and painfully slow processing speeds.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Let's go retroImage by REUTERS/Aaron HarrisWhen BlackBerry released its Passport phone last fall, it married a modern smartphone operating system -- BlackBerry's new QNX-based OS -- with a physical keyboard, which less than a decade ago had been a ubiquitous smartphone feature but now seemed like a relic from another age. Still, the company hoped that enough people pined for the older technology to drive sales.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Josh Fruhlinger