Computing: 1617

Napier's bones were a series of rods which could be used to perform mathematical functions. Here's what a biographer, writing in 1787, had to say about them:

Napier's arithmetical machines and those afterwards invented, a few of which we shall enumerate, although the monuments of genius, must, in general, be regarded as mathematical curiosities of no use.

--From An account of the life, writings, and inventions of John Napier--