A Google software engineer identified and cataloged every '90s computer seen in Jurassic Park, including Thinking Machines CM-5 systems, SGI workstations, and a Motorola Envoy PDA, providing specs and context for the film's accurate technology depictions.
<p><!-- obsidian --></p>
<p><em>Jurassic Park</em>, while beloved as a film, has been the subject of snarky memes for the infamous line in which one of the characters declares, "This is a Unix system, I know this!" while using a computer with an unusual 3D file manager interface.</p>
<p>Despite the memes, the film's production team was meticulous in accurately sourcing the right PCs (and adjacent details) for the sets—not too much of a surprise, given writer Michael Crichton's <a href="https://michaelcrichton.com/biography/programmer/">background</a> with computing and his obsessive attention to detail in the book the film is based on.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/engineer-identifies-and-explains-every-90s-computer-seen-in-jurassic-park/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/engineer-identifies-and-explains-every-90s-computer-seen-in-jurassic-park/#comments">Comments</a></p>
# Engineer identifies and explains every '90s computer seen in Jurassic Park
Source: [https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/engineer-identifies-and-explains-every-90s-computer-seen-in-jurassic-park/](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/engineer-identifies-and-explains-every-90s-computer-seen-in-jurassic-park/)
*Jurassic Park*, while beloved as a film, has been the subject of snarky memes for the infamous line in which one of the characters declares, “This is a Unix system, I know this\!” while using a computer with an unusual 3D file manager interface\.
Despite the memes, the film’s production team was meticulous in accurately sourcing the right PCs \(and adjacent details\) for the sets—not too much of a surprise, given writer Michael Crichton’s[background](https://michaelcrichton.com/biography/programmer/)with computing and his obsessive attention to detail in the book the film is based on\.
This was made clear by a little hobbyist investigation from Google software engineer[Fabien Sanglard](https://fabiensanglard.net/)\. He scanned the film and[picked out](https://fabiensanglard.net/jurrasic_park_computers/index.html)every specifically identifiable piece of hardware he could see, listed what they were, and shared context from other sources on their specs, costs, and how they ended up in the production\.
Truthfully, none of this is new information; people have been discussing the technology in*Jurassic Park*for years\. But it hadn’t been put all in one place in a highly readable analysis in a long time, and it gained some traction this week on[Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/vintagecomputing/comments/1ux2kt5/jurassic_park_computers_in_excruciating_detail/)and[Hacker News](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48915709)\. Plus,*Jurassic Park*has been on our minds given the recent passing of[beloved actor Sam Neill](https://arstechnica.com/culture/2026/07/in-memoriam-seven-of-our-favorite-sam-neill-films/)\.
Identified hardware includes \(among other things\) five Thinking Machines CM\-5 systems, a Motorola Envoy PDA, and multiple then\-cutting\-edge SGI workstations, including an IRIS Crimson and an R4000 Indigo\. For additional background, Sanglard shared this quote from*Jurassic Park*special effects coordinator Cory Faucher, as seen in the book*The Making of Jurassic Park*:
A detailed breakdown of all the computers and software featured in the movie Jurassic Park, including the Apple Powerbook 100, SGI R4000 Indigo, and Thinking Machines CM-5 supercomputer, with historical context and technical specifications.
The article explores the Siemens PC-X, a 1984 PC that ran SINIX (a Unix-based OS) and featured unique hardware specifications and design, providing historical context for early computing.
Andrew Chen reflects on how the rise of the personal computer made 1980s $20k+ workstations from SGI, NeXT, and Sun seem obsolete — yet today's AI-driven hardware (a single RTX PRO 6000 or a Mac Studio) is driving prices back up. A commentary on the cyclical nature of computing economics.
An article examining the process of programming the ENIAC, one of the earliest general-purpose electronic computers, likely detailing the original programming techniques and their historical context.