# Yeah, But Can You Run XP Or OS X On It? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 23, 2004, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-but-can-you-run-xp-or-os-x-on-it/265765 "2004-09-23T22:11:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-but-can-you-run-xp-or-os-x-on-it/265765/1 "2004-09-23T22:11:20Z")
[Home computer from the 1950s.](http://www.selectsolutions.com.au/images/1954vision.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-but-can-you-run-xp-or-os-x-on-it/265765/2 "2004-09-23T22:15:15Z")
KFC, Spicy computer wings. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-but-can-you-run-xp-or-os-x-on-it/265765/3 "2004-09-23T22:17:55Z")
Futurists really suck. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-but-can-you-run-xp-or-os-x-on-it/265765/4 "2004-09-23T22:18:25Z")
That is so cool. Now where is my jet pack & flying car!?! ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-but-can-you-run-xp-or-os-x-on-it/265765/5 "2004-09-23T22:19:52Z")
> [@](#): > > this model…illustrate(s) how a “home computer” could look in the year 2004 I’ve seen people’s homes who are smaller than that “home computer” ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-but-can-you-run-xp-or-os-x-on-it/265765/6 "2004-09-23T22:21:45Z")
> [@](#): > > Also the scientists readily admit that the computer will require not yet invented technology to actually work, but 50 years from now scientific progress is expected to solve these problems. Isn’t that a press release about Longhorn? ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-but-can-you-run-xp-or-os-x-on-it/265765/7 "2004-09-23T22:23:44Z")
What the hell is that big metal wheel on it? Do you steer it like a sub? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![QOFM\_Sit\_Down](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c37758/32.png) [@QOFM\_Sit\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QOFM_Sit_Down)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-but-can-you-run-xp-or-os-x-on-it/265765/8 "2004-09-23T22:24:56Z")
What is that big wheel for? The thing taht looks like a stearing wheel ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-but-can-you-run-xp-or-os-x-on-it/265765/9 "2004-09-23T22:25:30Z")
I thought “home computer” meant they were supposed to fit inside a home, not be the size of one. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-but-can-you-run-xp-or-os-x-on-it/265765/10 "2004-09-23T22:28:05Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > That is so cool. > > Now where is my jet pack & flying car!?! [Here’s your flying car.](http://sts.stanford.edu/dymaxion/flyingcar.jpg) > [@](#): > > What the hell is that big metal wheel on it? Do you steer it like a sub? That’s so you can play Pole Position! [Or drive a sub.](http://home.att.net/~jeff1_satobserve/photo17.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-but-can-you-run-xp-or-os-x-on-it/265765/11 "2004-09-23T22:56:16Z")
I dunno. I wouldn’t be surprised if the caption were tacked onto a picture of something else entirely. That console doesn’t look like anybody’s idea of anything that would be useful in the home. It looks more like submarine or powerplant simulator. You’d have to be a rather odd futurist to accurately predict the need for a TV monitor, but still see a need for all the weird dials and gauges. Furthermore, the filename indicates that the “vision” was created in 1954. At the time, an early version of Fortran might have existed ([http://www.isi.edu/~iko/pl/hw3\_fortran.html](http://www.isi.edu/~iko/pl/hw3_fortran.html)), but it certainly wasn’t a household name. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-but-can-you-run-xp-or-os-x-on-it/265765/12 "2004-09-23T23:11:36Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > What the hell is that big metal wheel on it? Do you steer it like a sub? 😕 It’s actually the first iPod. That’s the jog-shuttle wheel. ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-but-can-you-run-xp-or-os-x-on-it/265765/13 "2004-09-23T23:39:21Z")
[http://geekpress.com/2004\_09\_20\_daily.html](http://geekpress.com/2004_09_20_daily.html) > [@](#): > > Update on the “Home Computer” picture: The photograph is apparently a Photoshopped hoax. Reader Mike Jaeger pointed out, > > ``` > That is the control panel from an old naval nuclear reactor. On the far right is the EPCP (electric plant control panel) where the electrical operator on watch ("EO") controls power flows and breaker positions (notice the schematic laid out with switches for breakers). In the middle section is where the reactor operator ("RO") sits. He shims the control rods up and down in the reactor core with the lever (the L shaped lever just in front of the horizontal bar) and on the left is the throttleman station (usually manned by electricians). The large wheel is used to open/close ahead steam valves to the propusion shaft, while the smaller wheel is used to open/close back steam (astern throttles). The two wheels would be used in conjunction with each other to get the shaft to stop from a forward rotation, and then go in reverse (ahead steam is removed and astern steam applied to stop the shaft). The different gauges are specific to each station, with the throttleman concerned about power to steam flow ratios, steam pressures, etc. The RO cares about primary water avg. (coolant) temp, pressures, etc. The EO is watching vital bus voltages, and charging the battery with a trickle charge. > > ``` ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-but-can-you-run-xp-or-os-x-on-it/265765/14 "2004-09-24T00:13:24Z")
I thought the caption was suspect. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-but-can-you-run-xp-or-os-x-on-it/265765/15 "2004-09-24T00:17:29Z")
I knew it was BS the moment I saw it. It’s missing the tape reader! ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-but-can-you-run-xp-or-os-x-on-it/265765/16 "2004-09-24T00:33:54Z")
Badly photoshopped… Look at the paper coming into the bottom of the teletype vs the location of the tractors above. It should be roughly centered along the spacebar. Not to mention they didn’t have the technology to make CRTs quite that large in the 50s. ---
**Author:** ![Bewildebeest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Bewildebeest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bewildebeest)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-but-can-you-run-xp-or-os-x-on-it/265765/17 "2004-09-24T00:43:59Z")
> [@Terminus Est](#): > > I thought “home computer” meant they were supposed to fit inside a home, not be the size of one. In this case, perhaps you’re supposed to live inside it. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-but-can-you-run-xp-or-os-x-on-it/265765/18 "2004-09-24T05:32:31Z")
Oh, come on, it’s obviously a joke (hoax is too strong a word) - we don’t need a Bush-document-analysis. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-but-can-you-run-xp-or-os-x-on-it/265765/19 "2004-09-24T19:30:05Z")
Dude. What a _lame-ass_ hoax! Give us aliens or Elvis or something, or another Britney wedding. Not a _really big computer_! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-but-can-you-run-xp-or-os-x-on-it/265765/20 "2004-09-24T20:52:46Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Now where is my jet pack & flying car!?! The [flying car](http://www.brageforlag.no/bigm400-.jpg) is still in development. BTW: there’s at least one flying motorcycle in development. I’ve seen the prototype. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-but-can-you-run-xp-or-os-x-on-it/265765.md?page=2)