8 Cyberpunk Machines That Changed Computing Forever
5. The Colossus (1943)
The clue is in the name. Inspired by Turing, a telephone engineer named Tommy Flowers developed another code-breaking giant. Colossus was not only electronic, it was programmable too.
It was 17ft wide, weighed 5 tons, had 4 miles of wiring, and with 2,500 electrical valves it was something of a fire hazard too.
Ready in time for D-Day, the Colossus decrypted German radio communications. If you want to order one on Amazon, you should alert your local firefighters and power station.