Memory of the Month: They don’t make ’em like they used to
By Greg Marsh on October 28, 2011 at 2:56 PM
Posted in: Odds & Ends
In honor of GEICO’s 75th anniversary, we’re sharing an image from GEICO’s past each month this year and inviting you to exercise your caption-writing skills.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, with the company growing by leaps and bounds, GEICO executives realized that paper storage of policy information would eventually become impossible to manage. That’s when big, impressive machines like this IBM 650 Data Processing System began to appear at GEICO’s corporate headquarters just outside of Washington, D.C.
Fast, efficient data storage and retrieval remains a priority for GEICO, and the company’s IT department employs hundreds of associates like these two chaps – although we don’t see many bow ties (or ties of any sort, for that matter) around the office these days. Some of the company’s systems hardware still resides at the corporate headquarters, but much of it occupies a large data center in GEICO’s mid-Atlantic regional headquarters in Fredericksburg, Va.
And of course, your average smartphone now packs more computing power than the beast these fellows are working on. What do you suppose they’d say if they knew what the future of data processing held?
“What do you suppose they’d say if they knew what the future of data processing held?”
From what they’re dealing with in the picture, they’d probably faint!
i don’t understand–we’re still using this machine here!
I have it on good authority that the man in the driver’s seat is actually Don Knotts.
OK McFly. Press this button and you should be back to the future
But I just got my Certification in Binary…
The “loading program” icon for this machine is an actual physical hourglass.
Houston, we have a problem…..
Never press this button right here. No matter what>”
What do you suppose they’d say if they knew what the future of data processing held?
- (guy sitting in chair) So let me get this straight, I just sat here for 8hrs putting input into this monster. And you can take a picture of a piece of paper and send it across the country to the home office in 3 seconds? …..I’m going to take my 15 now.
steve jobs just invented what?
What do you suppose they’d say if they knew what the future of data processing held?
If you know this now, why isn’t it here yet?
Photo courtesy of GEICO, Lakeland, FL © 2000
OK.. So how do I cast my vote for Al Gore?
Ok so how far do I have to go to actually see a morlock?
How are we siamese twins if you are so much older then me!!
Machine:Your mailbox is over its size limit
Man sitting: All I did was download a No-Fault File
Skynet has a long way to go
Look Charlie, I just found a rat while trying to debug this thing!
How Mindsweeper was invented
this is the long lost relative of HAL 9000…..this is HAL 9……..
Do you think this will support ATLAS
“I don’t know, Sherman; we’ll be in big trouble if Mr. Peabody catches us fooling around with the Wayback Machine.”
“Please back up.. Your breath is kickin’…”
Just enter the numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42 and then press Execute. Do this every 108 minutes, or else.
Many bothans died bringing us this information
Han- Honestly Mothma what the heck is a Bothan. Do we really care how many we lost? I mean do you miss them? Really?
So this is the inside of the police box.
Let’s see if we can lookup the world’s record for smallest bowtie
First company PIP adjusters getting computer assistance with workload. (Clock on wall shows 12:00 midnight)… You think you have it bad?
“…And would ya believe it weighs under Ten Tons?!?!”
“Really, Wow!”
“Well that’s before you load the coal, its main power source”
I’ve giv’n her all she’s got, Captain, an’ I canna give her no more!
This thing is on wheels! First sign of going mobile??
Tom I’m stuck. I threw out my back, I threw out my back. Get me a Chiropracter.
Being this close to a large dangerous machine, shouldn’t one of us be wearing the red ensigns shirt ?
Supposedly this is the toilet of the future.
Please stop leaning over me… Get your own computer.
Man seated: “Hey Chuck, look at this will ya? They’re saying here that in the future all the records found on our newly installed 650 can be accessed from phones! Can you believe it?”
Man standing: “No way! Really? Let me see that!”
So where do I plug in my Ipod?
Man standing: “Why should I be the only one in here with lice?”
I didn’t want to vote for Taylor Hicks!!!
Man sitting: It seems to be some kind of count down.
Standing: What? Let me see that!
so the flux capacitor goes where?
“Here we are… face to face… a couple of silver spoons…”
Sharing the laughter, sharing the laughter and love
Cowabunga
“…and we’ll call the final number ‘PROFT SHARING’!”
DUDE!
“And if I can adjust the screen a little with this dial here… there… I’ve got it!! Now we can get every NFL game right here at the office!”
the clock in the back actually says 12 pm, but our company’s low cost policy involves a certain number of light bulbs allotted to the basement office per annum.
This button here releases the flying monkeys!!!