It isn't cutting-edge unless wires hang out the back

This is what real science looks like in its native habitat. Note the lack of gleaming control panels, blinkenlights, or even a cover. I strongly suspect that the wire in the center used to be a paperclip. Other pictures of this, the first solid-state transistor, show the lucite frame with extra holes and other strange non-functional features, indicating to the knowledgeable this was a re-used piece of lucite. See, real scientists don't care about the packaging, but they are packrats. We save everything. Could be useful some day! And it's not like they pay us much.

True state-of-the-art science equipment looks like a train wreck. It is cobbled together with just enough care to make it work, once. And then you sort of keep using it, adding extra gizmos as needed, for years. If you can buy it in a catalog and it has a cover, it isn't science! Remember, look for the dangling wires!