4 ms·
These are all fantastic photos. One thing that stood out to me is how prevalent the AT&T/Western Electric blue is everywhere. Much of my career has been spent
by function_seven 6y ago
These are all fantastic photos. One thing that stood out to me is how prevalent the AT&T/Western Electric blue is everywhere.
Much of my career has been spent inside telephone company central offices, where I've seen equipment from dozens of different vendors. The 5ess is still the sharpest and cleanest looking hardware I've ever seen. Bright white with that distinctive blue accent trim.¹
It's really a timeless look, and shows just how much effort they put into "irrelevant" details like that. A lot of vendors aim for a unified style, but it's usually boring and hard to distinguish from their peers. But AT&T stuff was distinctive, and I don't think it suffered from the passage of time. In other words, it doesn't look retro-futuristic. It just looks nice.
Look at the the 8th photo². You see the cabinets in the background, the keys on the console, the keys on the terminal, the platen knob, and the drawers on the desk. All matching and designed.
[1] (I give Nortel some "anarchy" credit for their courageous use of brown and green. It's fugly in an endearing sort of way :)
[2] https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vaO-bHVmCQ4/XciOziQqrqI/AAAAAAAASjw/hyw68qKbSIUrUlXmRudkLZl4WkI80BV0QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Bell_Labs_1960s%2B%25289%2529.jpg https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vaO-bHVmCQ4/XciOziQqrqI/AAAAAAAAS...
- walrus01 6y agoI would say that some big core router manufacturers have built equally cool looking designs, for things like the Juniper T640, Cisco CRS1 and similar. Also the big Infinera DWDM platforms. The aesthetic is best when people who really care about good quality singlemode do careful cable management on the front line card side. My least favorite old telecom equipment is probably the Nortel DS3 microwave radio systems, full rack sized, which were the most ugly shade of dark brown.
- kitteh 6y agoI like the FORE ATM switches, the scrolling amber LEDs displaying the hostname I thought was pretty rad.
- WalterGR 6y agoIs this what you mean by 5ess? Or are there other components not shown? Image: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/WP5z0lg6jDf3zLJZ9sMsPrvRWRSfCu8S9KoG90QVv0TAvuGLB_VYZ-hDFii99JVos01UlA5e9DHAuTs8Scl_Nz71Nd246vS2er2XiZN56va-jDehfBYnnG-tvz22 https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/WP5z0lg6jDf3zLJZ9sMs...
- function_seven 6y agoYeah, that. But that photo is very drab. Imagine several rows of those, each row a dozen cabinets or so long. Like this: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lucent_5ESS_GSM_Mobile_Switching_Centre.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lucent_5ESS_GSM_Mobi... Especially when it's sharing space with a mishmash of other equipment, all gnarly looking: https://www.ven-tel.com/img/product/EWSD.png https://www.ven-tel.com/img/product/EWSD.png
- TheOtherHobbes 6y agoThere's no switching hardware in these photos. It's an IBM System/360 installation, and everything is IBM System/360 Blue [1], not AT&T/WE. The same branding is still used today. https://www.ibm.com/design/language/color/ https://www.ibm.com/design/language/color/ DEC used similar colours in their mainframes https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/PDP-10_1090.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/PDP-10_1... But varied the colours for minis http://www.pdp-11.nl/museum-center-group.jpg http://www.pdp-11.nl/museum-center-group.jpg Interestingly, it has become traditional to use blue (and teal) to indicated advanced technology: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/expanse/images/c/c6/Protomolecule_structure_on_Venus.jpg https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/expanse/images/c/c6/Prot... [1] Also available in rust/red, not shown here.
- function_seven 6y agoThanks. I'm realizing this as well with sibling comment's photo and my reply. AT&T's blue is not as vivid as shown in these photos and the ones you linked. It's more muted/desaturated. I know there's no telco switching stuff here, but I had (wrongly) assumed that, since it was Bell Labs, that it was their own hardware using the same scheme. I stand by my admiration of that 5e, even though it appears the photos here aren't representative of it. :)
- PaulRobinson 6y agoBell Labs was not just about telco stuff, it was quite a revolutionary R&D unit in many ways. Seems to me a lot of people who worked there either did - or could have - worked at MIT, Stanford, Berkley, etc. A read of the Wikipedia page [1] shows just how varied the research there was, but I'm not sure it's up there today so perhaps it's slipped from our minds. One interesting thing I found out about the place is that I believe some university faculties have tried to model their research buildings on the physical layout of Bell Labs: everybody gets an office, but common areas are lengthy corridors away, meaning there is a good chance of serendipity and meeting colleagues when you're not heads-down. I have a hazy recollection this is how MIT built one of their newer buildings, but can't find a source for it now. And yes, you're right, the kit looks beautiful. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Labs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Labs
- kitteh 6y agoI liked the Nortel color scheme. If youve spent enough time in COs it just seemed like a nice change. BTW the scene in Robocop (the first one) where he plugs into a computer is actually a CO with DMS100s.
- jonjacky 6y agoThere is a whole book online about IBM's design in that era: The Interface: IBM and the Transformation of Corporate Design, 1945 -- 1976 by John Harwood https://muse.jhu.edu/book/24792 https://muse.jhu.edu/book/24792