Skip to main content

Google60 gives your standard search a slow, yet classy, retro makeover

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Designer and developer Norbert Landsteiner released an art project imagining what Google might’ve looked like in the 1960s. Google60 puts the search engine into an interface imitating a vintage IBM 360 computer. 

When you type a search term into Google60’s punch card, you’ll next see a slow printout of the Google name, which in this universe stands for Gabby Onthology Operated Grader and Linguistical Extrapolator. Next, you’re prompted to select a text, news, or image search. The system then accesses a tape deck that acts as “peripheral storage” while retrieving your data. After a bit of time, the results print out – one noisy line at a time – on tractor-feed paper. The sound is just as important as the look in creating the retro vibe. Landsteiner sourced the sound effects, which users can control under the Output Volume dial, from real devices including an IBM 129 Keypunch, and a Teletype Model 33.

No search data is transmitted to or from the artist’s site, masswerk.at, and instead connects directly to Google. Want to print your results to look like they do on screen? Make sure to enable background-images in your printer settings, and you should see the line-printer output.

It’s a slow, wildly impractical way to actually search for information, but it’s a kooky tool to play with and wander down memory lane. Searching for images is especially entertaining. Though Landsteiner isn’t affiliated with Google, this isn’t his first foray into casting a vintage light on Google. Earlier this year, he introduced Google BBS, which takes a more Technicolor ’80s-style approach to the tool. 

Editors' Recommendations

Anna Washenko
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Anna is a professional writer living in Chicago. She covers everything from social media to digital entertainment, from tech…
Quick — This 32-inch 4K monitor just had its price slashed by 21%
The 27-inch Dell S2721QS 4K monitor on a table.

Dell often has some great monitor deals and the firm has certainly excelled itself with an offer on the Dell 32-inch SE3223Q 4K monitor. Usually priced at $380, it's down to $300 for a limited time only. A fantastic price for a 4K monitor, you might already know to hit the buy button below but if you need some more guidance, keep reading while we explain what it offers.

Why you should buy the Dell 32-inch SE3223Q 4K monitor
Dell makes some of the best 4K monitors around with the Dell 32-inch SE3223Q 4K monitor reflecting many of those qualities. It offers 99% sRGB on its VA panel with 1.07 billion colors overall. There's also the aforementioned 4K resolution of 3840 x 2160 wide viewing angles and an anti-glare surface. It also has a response time of as little as 4ms gray-to-gray extreme and AMD FreeSync support. While the response rate isn't perfect for a gaming setup, it's fine for some light gaming with AMD FreeSync ensuring you get smooth browsing while you work.

Read more
Everything Microsoft didn’t announce at its 2023 Surface event
Microsoft showing off the new Surface laptop Go 3 at its September event.

Microsoft unveiled several new products during its 2023 Surface event. We got lots of updates about Windows Copilot and other AI-driven software upgrades, as well as plenty of hardware, including the Surface Laptop Studio 2 and the Surface Laptop Go 3.

While a lot of our early predictions came true during the Microsoft September event, there are still a few things that were noticeably missing from this year's lineup. Here's what Microsoft could have announced, but didn't.
Surface Pro 10

Read more
Lenovo Legion Pro 5 gaming laptop with an RTX 4070 is $400 off
Cyberpunk 2077 on the Lenovo Legion Pro 5.

If you're planning to buy a new gaming laptop, we highly recommend looking for offers involving the Lenovo Legion Pro 5. There's one right now from Lenovo itself -- a $400 discount that pulls the machine's price down from $1,900 to $1,500. It's still not cheap, but we assure you that every penny spent on this gaming laptop will be worth it. You're going to have to hurry with your purchase if you don't want to miss out on getting the device at 21% off though, as its price may return to normal at any moment.

Why you should buy the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 gaming laptop
The Lenovo Legion Pro 5 is our top choice in our roundup of the best gaming laptops because of the fantastic value that it provides as a reasonably priced and well-built machine. It's powered by the AMD Ryzen 7 7745HX processor and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card, plus 32GB of RAM that's enough to run multiple applications like streaming software and web browsers while playing the best PC games at their highest settings, according to our guide on how much RAM do you need. With these specifications, the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 is also prepared to play the best upcoming PC games without any need for further upgrades.

Read more