Stone Age
<jargon> In computer folklore, an ill-defined period from
ENIAC (ca. 1943) to the mid-1950s; the great age of electromechanical dinosaurs.
Sometimes used for the entire period up to 1960-61 (see
Iron Age); however, it is more descriptive to characterise the latter period in terms of a "Bronze Age" era of
transistor-logic, pre-
ferrite core memory machines with
drum or
CRT mass storage (as opposed to just mercury delay lines and/or relays).
More generally, the term is used pejoratively for ancient hardware or software, even by survivors from the
Stone Age.
[
Jargon File]
