FYI: Bombe appreciation post

This post is migrated from the old Wordpress blog. Some things may be broken.

In one respect, I’m just goofing with the WordPress mobile app to see how publishing to the blog from the phone goes. But I also wanted to post an appreciation entry for these beautiful machines, used by British intelligence to break German Enigma-machine-encrypted secret messages in WWII. Aside from the technical ingenuity and the vital role it held, it’s just pleasing to look at with its wooden case, raw metal elements and round keys that know must have made a satisfying clackity clack. Yes, many things got smaller, more powerful and usable over time, but we lost a nice aesthetic along the way.

I took the pic of this machine at an exhibition in London’s Imperial War Museum last week.