Term of the Moment
intellectual property
Definition: console
(1) The physical control panel on a computer or electronic device.
(2) A game machine. See video game console.
(3) A terminal or desktop computer used to monitor and control a network.
(4) Any display terminal.
(5) The user interface on any monitoring, management or control system. See Microsoft Management Console, HMI and OI.
Consoles that Were Consoles!
Go Back a Few Decades
(2) A game machine. See video game console.
(3) A terminal or desktop computer used to monitor and control a network.
(4) Any display terminal.
(5) The user interface on any monitoring, management or control system. See Microsoft Management Console, HMI and OI.
Up until the late 1970s, computers were designed with panels of blinking lights, which added to their aura of science fiction. The designs gave each computer a personality that is lacking in many of today's machines. (Top image courtesy of The Computer Museum History Center. Bottom image courtesy of Unisys Corporation.)
In 1951, the UNIVAC I had a very impressive console. Check out the typewriter output (right) and the oscilloscope (left). (Image courtesy of Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania.)