имя существительное [археология] (the Stone Age) каменный век (культурно-исторический период в развитии человечества; характеризуется изготовлением, главным образом, каменных орудий) Смотри: Bronze Age, Iron Age
"каменный век" так в американской литературе именуется период истории вычислительной техники от 1943 г., когда появился первый компьютер, до 1961 г., времени создания первого миникомпьютера (PDP-1). Это был период господства ламповых ЭВМ, или, как их именовали позже, "ЭВМ первого поколения" Смотри также: Iron Age, mainframe
I. noun 1. the first known period of prehistoric human culture characterized by the use of stone tools — compare Mesolithic, neolithic, Paleolithic 2. a stage in a human institution or field of endeavor regarded as primitive, outmoded, or obsolete Example: the Stone Age of information handling before computers II. adjective 1. of, relating to, or resembling the culture of the Stone Age especially in the use of stone implements Example: modern Stone Age peoples Example: our Stone Age ancestors 2. primitive, outmoded, or unsophisticated (as in ideas or technology) by currently accepted standards Example: marauding mercenaries with Stone Age political ideas — Robert Moss Example: using a Stone Age camera
In computer folklore, an ill-defined period from ENIAC (ca. 1943) to the mid-1950s; the great age of electromechanical dinosaurs. Sometimes used for the entire period up to 1960-61 (see Iron Age); however, it is more descriptive to characterise the latter period in terms of a "Bronze Age" era of transistor-logic, pre-ferrite core memory machines with drum or CRT mass storage (as opposed to just mercury delay lines and/or relays). More generally, the term is used pejoratively for ancient hardware or software, even by survivors from the Stone Age.