45-Year-Old Modem Used To Surf the Web

EdIII writes with this awesome snippet from Hack a Day: "'[phreakmonkey] got his hands on a great piece of old tech. It's a 1964 Livermore Data Systems Model A Acoustic Coupler Modem. He recieved it in 1989 and recently decided to see if it would actually work. It took some digging to find a proper D25 adapter and even then the original serial adapter wasn't working because the oscillator depends on the serial voltage. He dials in and connects at 300baud. Then logs into a remote system and fires up lynx to load Wikipedia. Lucky for [phreakmonkey] they managed to decide on a modulation standard in 1962. It's still amazing to see this machine working 45 years later.' Although impractical for surfing the Internet today, there is something truly cool about getting a 45-year old modem to work with modern technology. The question I have, is what is the oldest working piece of equipment fellow Slashdotters have out there? I'm afraid as far back as I can go is a Number Nine Imagine 128 Series 2 Graphics card on a server still in use at my house which only puts me at about 14 years."

Comments

Just Throw It on the Meme Heap

[eldavojohn]

My name is Junis, I am posting this from a Commodore64 and my 1964 Livermore Data Systems Model A Acoustic Coupler Modem in Afghanistan after years of oppression underneath the Taliban ...</meme>

And I suppose the instant I show any signs of lag in World of Warcraft I'll have to listen to my guildmates crack jokes about me using a 1964 Livermore Data Systems Model A Acoustic Coupler Modem ruining the raid.

Re:Just Throw It on the Meme Heap

[Philip K Dickhead]

Re:Just Throw It on the Meme Heap

[aztracker1]

Don't knock it, still faster that T-Mobile's edge network. ;)

Re:Just Throw It on the Meme Heap

[0100010001010011]

ping -c 5 -p 2B2B2B41544829

As recently as a few months ago a friend was on the internet with his laptop (running linux) and it was still susceptible to this. After about an hour of fun I remotely patched his modem for him. Those were the days.

*2B2B2B41544829 = +++ATH0, when the computer replies with the command it is intercepted locally and causes the modem to hang up.

Re:Just Throw It on the Meme Heap

[Hes Nikke]

If you watched the video you'd know that this acoustic coupler doesn't support AT commands - or any other kinds of commands. it just converts bits it receives on the serial port into pulses in the tone it generates, and it converts pulses it receives into bits on the serial port.

Re:Just Throw It on the Meme Heap

[Philip K Dickhead]

C/PM 80! Fortran 70! Stronium 90! Polysorbate 80! or Fight!

oldest piece of "equipment"

[MoreDruid]

is just as old as I am... I just needed a long time to know how to work it.

Re:oldest piece of "equipment"

[Anonymous Coward]

I just needed a long time to know how to work it.

I assume you are referring to that useless "dongle" between your legs?

Re:oldest piece of "equipment"

[LordKaT]

bing!

Re:oldest piece of "equipment"

[vigmeister]

Useless until he figured out the protocol for the handshake.

Re:oldest piece of "equipment"

[sexconker]

The handshake protocol is easy, the peer finding is the tricky part.

Re:oldest piece of "equipment"

[ObsessiveMathsFreak]

Beware of viruses when making connections to untrusted hosts!

Re:oldest piece of "equipment"

[BarryJacobsen]

Beware of viruses when making connections to untrusted hosts!

Viruses are something that can be dealt with - unintentionally spawning new processes is another matter entirely...

Re:oldest piece of "equipment"

[myz24]

As a parent, you're allowed to kill your children. If you do not wait for your children they'll become zombies and if you die, your children will be adopted by someone else. Maybe you should finger the user before making a connection.

UNIX is full of great metaphors and such....

Re:oldest piece of "equipment"

[nick_davison]

Forget about fingering, they won't even let me sniff their ports.

Re:oldest piece of "equipment"

[myz24]

Indeed I once was. I have successfully spawned two new processes. However, these new processes consume a lot of resources and we worry that spawning any more might cause the kernel (bank) to OOM (out of money) kill us.

Oldest Working?

[mgbastard]

I don't really use it anymore, but I have a TRS-80 Model IV and it works. I haven't used the modem in a long time. That's only about 26 years old though. The PowerBook 165c also works, and that's from 1993, making it 16 years old. Bonus for the SCSI ethernet adapter.

Re:Oldest Working?

[Lumpy]

TRS-80 Model 1 still in it's box with all documents and packaging.

No I haven't kept it that long, I found it as NOS in a tiny town rat-shack 10 years ago. bought it for $10.00 and a 6 pack of beer.

Re:Oldest Working?

[Sponge Bath]

I have an abacus that's really old.
Unfortunately, I can't find the system disks to boot it up :-(

My hammer.

[Polarina]

My hammer was made in 1876.

Re:My hammer.

[The Archon V2.0]

My hammer was made in 1876.

But your grandfather replaced the handle and your father replaced the head, right?:)

Re:My hammer.

[interkin3tic]

Unimpressive, all of you. Most of the atoms in my computer are like, billions of years old.

Re:My hammer.

[__aaclcg7560]

I got iron padlock with key that was made in the 1860s.

Re:My hammer.

[Anonymous Coward]

For those not familiar, the parent is referencing the Ship of Theseus paradox which is an interesting read.

Re:My hammer.

[eln]

I think a lot of things in those days were built without a really good understanding of engineering, so things were typically over-engineered. Things were built far stronger than they needed to be because people didn't have a good understanding of the strengths of the materials they were using or of the physics being employed in their designs. Likewise, without a lot of advanced chemical and metallurgical expertise, they weren't able to create materials specifically to meet the demands of the job like we can today.

The result is they had things that were much stronger, but took a lot longer and cost a lot more to make. Now, we have things that are designed specifically to try and hit the sweet spot between durability and cost, and that can be efficiently mass produced. As a result, our stuff doesn't last as long, but we can afford to buy a whole lot more stuff.

Re:My hammer.

[Abreu]

"This, milord, is my family's axe. We have owned it for almost nine hundred years, see. Of course, sometimes it needed a new blade. And sometimes it has required a new handle, new designs on the metalwork, a little refreshing of the ornamentation . . . but is this not the nine hundred-year-old axe of my family? And because it has changed gently over time, it is still a pretty good axe, y'know. Pretty good."- Low King Rhys Rhysson

The Fifth Elephant, by Terry Pratchett

Re:My hammer.

[risk one]

And I bet it still interfaces flawlessly with your modern computer. Today's engineers could learn from that.

Re:My hammer.

[bitt3n]

Now, we have things that are designed specifically to try and hit the sweet spot between durability and cost

by that definition, my walmart deck lounger is the most precisely engineered piece of equipment in the history of mankind. Whenever I sit down, I feel like it's half a hamburger away from catastrophic failure. (that's one croissant in metric units)

Re:My hammer.

[Rude Turnip]

A shallow materialist will laugh at the "900" year old axe. Meanwhile, the deeper meaning is that someone has a connection to 900 years of family history and tradition.

Re:My hammer.

[jandrese]

Are you sure it wasn't just the especially overengineered stuff that tended to survive and the other 99% of the stuff broke down and was thrown away over the years, just like today? I'll maybe grant you that back in the day people tended to overengineer more because they were very close to the finished product and wanted it to have that little something extra, but my guess is that most of the stuff from back then is just as crappy as most of the stuff is today.

Re:My hammer.

[newcastlejon]

(that's one croissant in metric units)

What's that in wafer thin mints?

Model M Keyboard

[Bai jie]

I still use my old 1984 IBM Model M Keyboard. I will weep when/if that keyboard ever dies.

Re:Model M Keyboard

[Anonymous Coward]

I'll pay $5, as that's what Google says [google.com] a keyboard is worth.

Google is old hat - everyone who is anyone uses Wolfram Alpha. Alpha-ing "cost of keyboard" gives a price of $47.87 - although if it has a "market cap" (is that anything like caps lock?) the price skyrockets to $21.2 billion.

Just be glad you're looking at the cost of a keyboard instead of the actual value - according to Wolfram Alpha, the value of a keyboard is U+2328. Although I'm not sure what that is in US dollars, because "convert U+2328 to US dollars" doesn't seem to give anything helpful.

Re:Model M Keyboard

[hairyfeet]

If anybody wants an old "clacky" keyboard, there really is a really cheap and easy way to get one-Go to your local mom&pop shop. We always have stuff like that around, because we are packrats and never throw anything working out. When I ran low on "claky" keyboards I just went to the other shop down the street and he let me rummage through his keyboard box. I got an old IBM and the Compaq I'm typing this on now for a whole $7.50 for the pair.

So go and visit your local mom&pop repair shop, it is like old PC junk heaven. Hell I even have some old S3 Virge cards sitting in the drawer here somewhere. Hey, you never know when they may come in handy! But any mom&pop repair shop that has been around for any length of time quickly becomes a "Sanford&Son" junk shop for anything tech related. We just don't have the heart to throw working gear out. Some come on down! It'll be an adventure! Don't suppose I can interest you in some S3 Virge and Matrox PCI cards?

Re:Model M Keyboard

[VisceralLogic]

Google is old hat - everyone who is anyone uses Wolfram Alpha. Alpha-ing "cost of keyboard" gives a price of $47.87 - although if it has a "market cap" (is that anything like caps lock?) the price skyrockets to $21.2 billion.

Just be glad you're looking at the cost of a keyboard instead of the actual value - according to Wolfram Alpha, the value of a keyboard is U+2328. Although I'm not sure what that is in US dollars, because "convert U+2328 to US dollars" doesn't seem to give anything helpful.

Dude, Alpha is so old school... these days we "bing" things... get with the times!

2 modems, 4 cans, 2 strings....

[wowbagger]

I've often wanted to dig up 2 acoustic coupled modems, 4 tin cans, and 2 strings, and see if I could get the modems to work over that.

Re:2 modems, 4 cans, 2 strings....

[CookieOfFortune]

This is a... I would like to try this.

Re:2 modems, 4 cans, 2 strings....

[Rorschach1]

Try PSK31 (31.25 bps binary phase shift keying mode used for ham radio) with a couple of sound cards. It'll work over open air with a speaker and microphone. If you used two different carrier tones, you could probably do full duplex.

For my own implementation of PSK31, I once ran it at a carrier of 62.5 hz. Sounded more like war drums than a digital mode over my subwoofer, but it still decoded OK.

Re:2 modems, 4 cans, 2 strings....

[teknopurge]

Try PSK31 (31.25 bps binary phase shift keying mode used for ham radio) with a couple of sound cards. It'll work over open air with a speaker and microphone. If you used two different carrier tones, you could probably do full duplex.

For my own implementation of PSK31, I once ran it at a carrier of 62.5 hz. Sounded more like war drums than a digital mode over my subwoofer, but it still decoded OK.

sick.....you are all sick.......

Re:2 modems, 4 cans, 2 strings....

[Tenebrousedge]

These people are hackers. Mostly that means good things.

Pushing the bounds of technology is one of the most ancient and noble occupations. Many geeks also manage to push the bounds of reason, good taste, and hygiene, but creativity in tool-using is perhaps the defining element of humanity. Certainly the drive to tinker is responsible for the majority of our progress as a species.

Slashdot is where that impulse goes to die :) Stay tuned for beowulf clusters of linux-running hot grits overlords.

Atari Baby

[Astroturtle]

I have an Atari 400 I still drag out from time to time when I get an itch to play the "definitive" (to me at least!) versions of Pac-Man, Donkey Kong and Defender. Bought as a Xmas present when I was 9 which puts it at 28 years old. :) I also still have my old Apple ][ bought 4 years later with the "CP/M card" and a 300 baud modem. Hmm... I think I'm going to have to some surfing tonight! ;) astroturtle

Does test equipment count?

[slaker]

I keep a Hewlitt-Packard oscilloscope out in my car that was manufactured sometime in the mid-50s.
It still works, but I've only had to use it about three times in my professional life.

Commadore Amiga 500

[Pvt_Ryan]

:D and I still love starting it up.. Nothing like the grinding of a floppy drive in the morning..

Back then

[rodrigoandrade]

Most electronic equipment was built to last, hence this guy got his modem to work.

I doubt anyone will be able to run a GTX 280 in 45 years.

PowerMac 5400

[XxtraLarGe]

My stepson currently has a PowerMac 5400 in his room, with a video in card. That came out in 1996, so it's about 13 years old. Until recently, he'd use it for watching VHS movies & playing his XBox.

oldest pieces?

[commodoresloat]

The question I have, is what is the oldest working piece of equipment fellow Slashdotters have out there?

Well as far as modem technology goes I've still got a classic 1200 baud Hayes modem; must be from the early 80s I would guess (perhaps older?); it was working fine when I stopped using it around 1993 or so (upgraded to 2400 baud FTW!!)* ... I'm sure it would still work if I plugged it in today but I'm not hunting down an RS-232 adapter to find out. If we want to talk audio gear I've got some much older items, including a pair of AR speakers from the 60s that still sound pretty damn good... Now get the hell off my lawn!

* (and back then FTW still meant Fuck the World!!)

Where'd you get a compatible handset?

[bzzfzz]

Most of the acoustic couplers back in the day were fairly picky about the telephone handset used.

I make it a point to get rid of old digital gear, but I do have a telephone from the 1920s. It's still hooked up, and is one of the few reasons I still have a landline. It has the rayon-covered cord and everything.

Anyone still paying for a phone?

[NotQuiteReal]

I mean the phone instrument itself, perhaps with a dial? You know, the heavy duty ones that say property of Bell on the bottom?

Heh, you might check your parents or grandma... they have probably paid thousands of dollars for that phone over the years.

Still working with Paper Tape

[Cassini2]

The CNC industry is still using NC machines built to work with paper tape. 30 years old and still going strong ...

Old

[Quiet_Desperation]

what is the oldest working piece of equipment fellow Slashdotters have out there?

There's this rock I use as a paperweight next to my computer. I figure it's anywhere between 100 million and 2 billion years old.

Procrastinate much?

[sootman]

He recieved it in 1989 and recently decided to see if it would actually work.

Wow. And I thought I was bad about putting things off.

Amiga 2000 to surf the web

[roskakori]

I still have an Amiga 2000 standing around from 1989 with a 8 Mhz 68000 CPU and 7 MB RAM. Funny thing about it is that it can run the relatively modern AmigaOS 3.1, for which reasonably well working graphical web browsers exist. Occasionally I fire it for fun just to demonstrate that 80's hardware can show web pages in a semi decent way. Configure it to run on a 640x400 screen with 8 shades of grey and it still shows most of the modern web sites that have some sort of accessibility fall back. It can do tables and basic CSS, so in some cases the results are almost indistinguishable from what you see on a modern browser. Of course it is awfully slow and needs several seconds to render a medium sized PNG image.

It's particular cool to show it too kids that think you need GHz's and GB's to surf the web.

PDP-11

[LatencyKills]

I programmed a PDP-11 in graduate school to pull data from my vapor deposition rig. Circa 1975 or so. Gotta love those 8" floppy disks. I don't know about today, but four or five years ago I went back to my graduate lab for a visit, and there it was still chugging my code along. Why replace it if it ain't broke?