It's not the first time we've heard of apparently obsolete technology still performing a perfectly adequate function. The Spirit and Opportunity exploration rovers on Mars feature a 32bit Rad 6000 microprocessor – another MIPS based device – running at 20MIPS.
While Spirit is now out of action, Opportunity is still working, although problems with the on board 256Mbyte of flash mean it's now reliant upon 128k of ROM. Despite that, it's managed to travel more than 42km and undertake a lot of science along the way.
But the ultimate advertisement for old technology comes with the Voyager satellites; both of which have now left the solar system.
Voyager 1 is currently 19.6billion km from Earth, with communication taking more than 18hr. Voyager 2 is slightly closer, only 16bn km away. The amazing thing about both probes is the fact they are controlled by digital tape decks.
