11/18: Enigma, the German ww2 encoding machine

[Scopulus Argentarius]

Originally posted by Undertoad


I had never seen a photo of an actual Enigma encoding machine until recently.

I didn't note where this image came from, but here is Enigma. It's electric, but its encoding method is largely mechanical. Breaking the codes produced by this machine was Britain's key to winning WW2.

What strikes me is how mechanical it really looks. It's just a wooden box!

Of course you've sceen the computer cases made of wooden boxes. I believe one was recently featured in Slashdot...it escapes me now...