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Tech

This 1980s Computer System Is Still Used for Spanish Driving Tests

Old tech dies hard.
Image: Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai

Our lives are brimming with shiny new gadgets and apps. We take pictures and message friends with our latest generation smartphones and work on our glossy new laptops.

But the world around us is still filled with the technologies of yesteryear—fossils of the early computer age that sometimes still have a role to play rather than just being on display in some museum.

I encountered one such fossil last week, when I went to renew my Spanish driver's license in Barcelona.

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The next generation computer and software for a part of the Spanish driver's license test. (The app is dated 1988) Lorenzo Franceschi BAugust 18, 2015

I couldn't help but take a picture of it; that's what we do these days, after all. The worker who was assisting me with the test came back in the room as I took the picture and laughed. I told her I was surprised by how old the system was (the software was dated 1988). She said that it was indeed old, but that it still worked well.

The computer you see in the picture was connected to two levers, which I had to control with my hands. The point of the test was to see if I could keep two tiny black lines within the confines of two swirling white lines—very basic representations of cars driving down roads—to test my hand-eye coordination and my reaction time.

The graphics, as you can see in the video below, are incredibly outdated.

As it turns out, this is a system that is still commonly used across Spain.

The manufacturer, a company called General ASDE, still markets a slightly updated version of the system on its website. The screenshots on the site aren't entirely clear, but it seems like this version is dated 1999—not as old as the one I used, but still ages ago in internet and technology years. (General ASDE did not answer to a request for comment, as their offices are currently closed for vacation.)

Perhaps there's no need for new, shiny machines when the old ones are still up to the task.

When I called the Spanish government body that manages driver's licenses, the country's DMV, a phone operator told me that, yes, these systems are "pretty antique" but are still "commonly used" as they haven't been recently upgraded.

They aren't cheap either. A brochure dated June 2014 lists the ASDE Driver Test N-845, the latest model, at 2,797 euros (roughly $3,200).

I ended up easily passing the test, in case you're wondering. And I have to say that despite its antiquated look, the system kinda does its job. Perhaps there's no need for new, shiny machines when the old ones are still up to the task.