“Blinkenlights” is a term for front panel LED lights on computers and networking equipment. It originated as a parody of German language and precision machinery notices during WWII. The lights were used to interpret computer operations, but are now mostly found on network equipment. Despite this, users have found ways to incorporate flashing lights into their computers for aesthetic purposes.
“Das Blinkenlights” or simply “blinkenlights” is a humorous term for any of the front panel light emitting diode (LED) lights found on computers and networking equipment. The concept behind das blinkenlights probably originated around WWII as a parody of the German language, the German facility for working with precision machinery and their knack for posting assertive or overbearing notices. To lighten the mood, Allied machine shop workers during WWII posted parody safety notices on or around the machinery. The purpose of these signs was to warn the uninitiated to avoid messing with any machinery they didn’t understand, and instead to watch and enjoy the way out.
In the early 1950s, these marks made their way into more scientific laboratories and research institutions. The first such notice to mention flashing lights is said to have appeared on an electron microscope at Cambridge University’s Cavendish Laboratory. Another version is said to have appeared in 1955 in an International Business Machines (IBM) lab, and yet another at the University of London in the early 1960s. The generation of parody language used in the sign is based on the fact that the English language has such strong Germanic roots that a parody version of German is easy for English speakers to understand, read and enjoy.
In the years following the Second World War, the sign continued to spread and vary. What actually started as “blinkenlichten” eventually became “blinkenlights” as the latter became more commonly used in computer labs. Early computer programmers had implemented a series of lights on the front of their computers so they could see when the computer was performing specific operations.
The lights were intended to help them interpret bus register states or the instruction counter while a program was running on the machine. As computers got faster, the flashing lights became nothing more than a blur and were only able to offer very general information. Most modern computers forgo the original blinkers now, and blinkers are typically only found on network equipment such as routers, hubs, and patch bays, to indicate when throughput is occurring on a specific interface.
However, flashing lights are much nicer to look at than a simple black box, so a number of variations have evolved over time. In the 1980s, a parallel-processing computer called The Connection Machine received a front panel that was nothing more than a programmable grid of LEDs; during its demo, it was programmed to display John Conway’s life math game. Later, a personal computer called the BeBox appeared on the market, sporting strings of flashing lights on its front panel.
Even though most computers ship with little or no flashing lights on the front panel, the desire to brighten up an otherwise boring computer continues to take on new forms. Enterprising users have come up with several methods of doing this. Some of these ways include illuminated cooling fans visible through transparent panels, base lighting, and other modifications to the computer case and front panel.
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