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Burroughs B205

This was the Burroughs Corporation's first electronic computer, although in fact it was simply a rebranded Electrodata Corporation machine (Burroughs having bought Electrodata in 1956, shortly before the release of this machine).

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The Angry Red Planet (1959)

The B205 is inside the MR1 rocket ship, and appears to control all of its functions.

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Importance: ***
Realism: **
Seems very heavy for a spaceship, but the idea of using a computer like this is not completely far-fetched.

Visibility: *****


Batman - The Movie (1966)

The console from the B205 stands in for the various computers in the Bat Cave.

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Importance: ***
The Dynamic Duo use the "Navigational Aid Computer" to determine that a buoy close to the scene of an attack on Batman is not a legally placed buoy.

Realism: *
Only a small part of the computer is shown.

Visibility: ****


Caprice (1967)

Patricia investigates the security of a rival company, discovering that they store their secrets in an encrypted filing system made mostly from B205 tape drives.

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Importance: ****
Realism: ****
Visibility: ***


Fail Safe (2000)

B205 tape drives appear as part of the computer systems at Strategic Air Command, a failure of which causes a group of bombers to be instructed to attack.

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Importance: *****
Realism: ***
Visibility: ***


Lost in Space (1965)

B205s, or their consoles at least, appear all over the place, both in Mission Control and on board the Jupiter 2.

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Importance: ***
Realism: **
Well only the consoles are visible, not the whole machine, but the bigger issue is that this is supposed to be set in 1997. I don't see a B205 running Windows 95!

Visibility: ****


The Swarm (1978)

The military site is littered with B205 tape drives.

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Importance: *
Realism: **
We only see the tape drives, and they seem to be used for playing audio tape!

Visibility: ***


The Time Travelers (1964)

The B205 is an integral part of both original and reproduced time machines.

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Importance: *****
Realism: **
OK, so it's a time machine, but we get to see all of it rather than just the normal programmer's panel or tape drive.

Visibility: *****