< 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 ]
(2003-09-27)