I'm fascinated by information technologies that pre-date the information age and do not rely on digital computers. Devices like slide rules and card filing systems made it possible for humans to perform complicated tasks in pre-computer times.
What Counts as Information Technology?
For the sake of this article, I will refer to information technology as a tool that stores, transmits or processes information.
What Makes an Information Technology Primitive
I'm going to use a very broad definition of primitive
here. Anything that lacks a solid state transistor is fair game. This gives us a broad range of technologies, from things as simple as cuneiform to more advanced technologies like the telegraph.
Store / Duplicate
- Clay tablets & stylus (permanent records)
- Papyrus scrolls
- Wax tablets (rewritable notes)
- Codices on parchment
- Woodblock printing (pre–movable type)
- Movable type (Bi Sheng, Gutenberg)
- Carbon paper (instant copies)
- Mimeograph & spirit duplicators
- Blueprint / cyanotype (copy technical drawings)
- Photostat (optical document copier)
- Punch cards & paper tape (data media)
- Player‑piano rolls (encoded music)
- Addressograph plates (address files & imprinting)
- See also: Graphotype
Index / Retrieve
- Edge‑notched cards (McBee Keysort; mechanical filtering)
- Rolodex (rotary card file)
- visible files (flip‑index cabinets)
- Zettelkasten (linked index‑card system)
- Vertical filing cabinets (standardized folders)
- Loose‑leaf binders with index tabs
Transmit / Signal
- Beacon chains / bonfires
- Optical telegraph towers (Chappe telegraph)
- Heliograph (mirror flashes)
- Signal lamps
- Wig‑wag flag signaling
- Maritime flag hoists (International Code of Signals)
- Whistled languages (e.g., Silbo)
- Pneumatic tube mail (inter‑office/city networks)
- Undersea telegraph cables
- Printing telegraph & teleprinter (Hughes/TTY)
- Telex network
- Stock ticker (ticker tape)
- Teleautograph (handwriting over wire)
- Radio telegraphy (CW) & AM broadcast
- Radiofax / weatherfax (images over radio)
- Mechanical television (Nipkow disk)
Record / Display
- Phonograph cylinders & discs
- Dictaphone / Dictabelt dictation systems
- Magnetic tape (reel‑to‑reel audio)
- Optical sound‑on‑film
- Kymograph (inked physiological traces)
- Seismograph & strip‑chart recorders
- Photographic plates & roll film
- Magic lantern (image projection)
- Camera obscura (drawing aid)
- Filmstrip & motion‑picture projectors
- Oscilloscope (CRT signal display)
- Stenotype (chorded keyboard for transcription)
Compute / Quantify (non‑digital, non‑transistor)
- Abacus (suanpan, soroban)
- Counting rods (rod numerals)
- Napier’s bones
- Gunter’s scale
- Slide rules (linear/circular/cylindrical)
- Nomograms (alignment charts)
- Volvelles / paper calculators (e.g., pregnancy/tide wheels)
- E6B flight computer (circular slide rule)
- Proportional divider & pantograph (scale/replicate)
- Planimeter (area integrator)
- Mechanical calculators (arithmometer, pinwheel, comptometer, Curta)
- Jacquard loom (punched‑card control)
- Unit‑record equipment (keypunch, sorter, tabulator)
- Differential analyzer (analog integrator)
- Tide‑predicting machine (Kelvin)
- Harmonic analyzer / synthesizer (Fourier)
- Naval fire‑control analog computers
- Antikythera mechanism / orrery (astronomical calculators)
Encode / Protect / Compress
- Scytale (cipher staff)
- Alberti cipher disk
- Vigenère (polyalphabetic)
- Playfair cipher
- Jefferson/Bazeries cylinder
- Cardan grille (stencil steganography)
- Book cipher
- Telegraph codebooks (commercial message compression)
- Invisible inks (chemical steganography)
- Microdots (microphoto hiding)
- Rotor machines (Hebern, Enigma, SIGABA)
- Lorenz SZ teleprinter cipher
- One‑time tape (paper‑tape OTP variant)
- Wax seals & signet rings (authenticity)
Coordinate / Navigate / Keep Time
- Sundials
- Water clocks (clepsydrae)
- Hourglasses
- Weight‑driven / verge‑escapement clocks
- Pendulum clocks
- Marine chronometers
- Time balls / noon guns (chronometer sync)
- Magnetic compass
- Astrolabe (planispheric & mariner’s)
- Cross‑staff / backstaff / sextant
- Plane table & alidade (field surveying)
- Gunter’s chain (distance measurement)
- Triangulation points
- Log line & traverse board (nautical record‑keeping)