Blinkenlights: Difference between revisions

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Thanks to signs in [[As Long as It Sounds Foreign|"mock German"]] that appeared in various computer rooms in [[The Fifties|the 1950s]], Blinkenlights became something for non-technical people to look at, instead of touching something they really shouldn't touch. From there, it was only a matter of time – less than a decade – for Blinkenlights to become a visual shorthand for high technology in general, not just computers ... and they were ''always'' blinking.

As computers became more ubiquitous, the trope faded from the public consciousness. Nowadays it's used in works that purposefully invoke [[Zeerust]], always paired with [[Beeping Computers]].

As computers became more ubiquitous, the trope faded from the public consciousness. ([[Real Life]] 21st-century mainframes don't even have diagnostic lights any more.) Nowadays it's used in works that purposefully invoke [[Zeerust]], always paired with [[Beeping Computers]].

[[Wikipedia]] has a page about [[wikipedia:Blinkenlights|Blinkenlights]]. [[The Jargon File]] has [http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/B/blinkenlights.html a page about them], too.