The Verge: Do you think technology from circa 1680 can still surprise and delight in the age of the iPhone and Alexa? I didn’t, but boy was I wrong.I often forget this when looking at the human timeline from my 21st century vantage point. Then last weekend I discovered the “detector Lock” in the Rijksmuseum, created by British locksmith John Wilkes. The lock (and those like it) is a triumph of 17th century technology and a precursor to the so-called “smart locks” we see flooding the market today.

Make sure you watch the associated video. This technology is cool now, even for a generation accustomed to instant digital gratification and advanced encryption. We take secure casino online Ireland interfaces, biometric banking apps, and cloud home security completely for granted. Yet seeing those exact same verification principles executed purely through mechanical brass and iron puts our modern digital achievements into a humbling perspective. It must have seemed like magic 340 years ago.