What if we told you that despite the technological advancements being made daily, the US government still uses floppy disks to do many essential tasks across the spectrum? This means floppy disks are still used to calculate taxes and control their nuclear weapons.
We will explore more of the oldest pieces of technology used widely in government offices worldwide.
The Diplomatic Telegraph
In contrast to the technology we have in modern times, such as smartphones and the internet, you would be forgiven for thinking of the telegraph as being ancient and obsolete. Back then, it allowed people to transmit messages through encoded electrical signals. This was a shift away from convention and physical forms of communication such as letters. Revolutionary at the time. But would you believe that even today, many major government offices use the same telegraph systems to ensure security? Due to their simplicity, these systems are secure and cannot be hacked, thus maintaining secrecy. This is why the telegraph is still in use.
The Typewriter
With the advent of the personal computer, it is scarce to see typewriters. For a good reason as well. They had hard keys, which meant a lot of effort was needed in using them. The worst part was – no margin for error. As the typewriter would punch the key onto the paper in real-time, there could be no backspace key. This old piece of technology, however, is still in use today. The reason is that of security. Keyboard input on a typical computer can be intercepted and read through various malicious means.
Fax Machine
The typewriter allows government officials to draft documents and make a hard copies. Still, it means that there will always be only one paper copy. Even if you make xerox copies, there is still no way to transfer it to other offices and government places, at least not safely. Bear in mind that any transfer over the internet is not considered safe. This is where the fax machine comes in. In a world of PDFs and digital copies, the fax machine that operates through an analog phone line can transfer documents securely and efficiently. The working principle of a fax machine is a combination of the telegraph and telephony. The data is transmitted in the form of electrical signals.
Computers from the 50s
The US States Government still uses more than half a century old technology. The treasury department, for instance, uses a fifty-six-year-old programming language for maintaining the Master file of the people. Nuclear weapons are at the disposal of the IBM Series 1 system that was popular in the 70s. The Pentagon has a command-and-control system called Compass, which is more than 52 years old. Homeland security uses a 40-year-old programming language to maintain its immigration and customs database.
The common theme amongst these old technologies is that they are too old to hack and are still in use today.
Picture Credits
1950 | Timeline Of Computer History | Computer History Museum. Computerhistory.Org, 2022.
https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/1950/.
Pexels. Fax Machine, 2022.
https://www.pexels.com/search/fax%20/.
Pixabay. Typewriter, 2022.
https://www.pexels.com/photo/black-continental-typewriter-on-white-surface-102100/.
Pixabay. Telegrams, 2022.
https://pixabay.com/illustrations/phone-analog-retro-old-a-tube-4598563/.
