The 20 best, worst, and weirdest tech tattoos

By Joe Donovan Published July 10, 2018

I thought the Gateway Cow would never resurface. I was wrong. Yesterday I encountered tech’s favorite barn animal in tatoo form. That’s right, there exists a person with a tattoo of a gateway cow.

At the intersection of “completely insane” and “the end is near” are technology tattoos. They play ode to operating systems and technology visionaries alike. Fortunately, there there are libraries of tech tattoos posted online for our viewing pleasure.

In a way, the technology tattoo has a kind of logic. It all makes sense when you consider that the tech industry is often described as tribal. We put together 20 of the most stunning tech tattoos out there. Notice how I didn’t say “best?”

Ironic Gateway Cow?

Gateway Cow Tattoo — geekytattoos.com Image used with permission by copyright holder

This happened.

Wife’s name in Binary Code

Binary Leg Tattoo — Photo Credit: Brandon Burke Image used with permission by copyright holder

She wanted her name tattooed on his leg. Love is a four letter word but it apparently takes dozens of 1’s and 0’s.

Portrait of Bill Gates

Bill Gates Tattoo — Nate Beavers / bigtattooplanet.com Image used with permission by copyright holder

You can call it a tribute. Pretty sure I’ve seen similar portrayals of Gandhi.

Steve Jobs’ Autograph

Steve Jobs Autograph Tattoo — greezer.ch/ flikr Image used with permission by copyright holder

iSkin? There are plenty of Jobs tattoos out there. Not all are as tasteful as this one that looks like a designer logo.

Cisco Systems Shoulder Tat

Cisco Systems Shoulder Tattoo — Mitch Barrie/Flickr Image used with permission by copyright holder

Best of the bunch. I can’t take my eyes off that cable-knit smock.

Mouse and Hourglass

Mouse and Hourglass Tattoos — buzzfeed.com Image used with permission by copyright holder

A subtle reminder that your computer back home has frozen.

WordPress > Blogger

Lots of wordpress love in the Tattoo world.

Anonymous Leg Tat

Anonymous Leg Tattoo — Photo Credit: A Pele é Minha Image used with permission by copyright holder

This is gonna look like a spoiled meat special in 15 years.

WordPress shoulder action

WordPress Shoulder Tattoo — Hugo Baeta / WordPress Image used with permission by copyright holder

Notice the giant cat tattoo? It’s coming for you, WordPress.

Code is poetry

Code is Poetry Tattoo — Hugo Baeta / WordPress Image used with permission by copyright holder

So profound.

HTML neck tat

HTML Neck Tattoo — buzzfeed.com Image used with permission by copyright holder

I’m surprsied that HTML tattoos aren’t more of a thing.

Code is poetry redux

HTML love and hate tattoos — Francis Storr/Flikr Image used with permission by copyright holder

Oh wait… I guess they are a thing.

Too ‘Zune

Who said Zune won’t last?

Dude, you got a Dell?

‘Cause why not?

Sidekick Eulogy

Sidekick Phone Tattoo — boingboing.net Image used with permission by copyright holder

RIP Motorola Sidekick? The halo is a nice touch.

Forearm powered by Google

Forearm Google Tattoo — geekytattoos.com Image used with permission by copyright holder

It’s only a matter of time until we all become powered by Google… or something.

Related: Google’s new patent is a neck tattoo

Mac Power button… on leg?

Mac Power Button Tattoo — flikr/r3v Image used with permission by copyright holder

Needs to get that thing cleaned out.

T-Pain puts Facebook on leg

T-Pain's Facebook Tattoo — Image used with permission by copyright holder

All you need to know is this, T-Pain gets a new tat every time he goes to Hawaii.

Dappy Hashtag Teardrop Tattoo

Hashtag Cheek Tattoo — twitter / The Dappy Image used with permission by copyright holder

Here’s some news for Dappy, bad decisions will always trend.

It was only a matter of time?

MySpace Belly Tattoo — photo credit: the chive Image used with permission by copyright holder

The current state of Myspace.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Joe Donovan is an editorial assistant for Digital Trends who covers a variety of general assignments throughout the…

Cars

Range Rover’s first electric SUV has 48,000 pre-orders

Land Rover Range Rover Velar SVAutobiography Dynamic Edition

Range Rover, the brand made famous for its British-styled, luxury, all-terrain SUVs, is keen to show it means business about going electric.

And, according to the most recent investor presentation by parent company JLR, that’s all because Range Rover fans are showing the way. Not only was demand for Range Rover’s hybrid vehicles up 29% in the last six months, but customers are buying hybrids “as a stepping stone towards battery electric vehicles,” the company says.

Cars

BYD’s cheap EVs might remain out of Canada too

BYD Han

With Chinese-made electric vehicles facing stiff tariffs in both Europe and America, a stirring question for EV drivers has started to arise: Can the race to make EVs more affordable continue if the world leader is kept out of the race?

China’s BYD, recognized as a global leader in terms of affordability, had to backtrack on plans to reach the U.S. market after the Biden administration in May imposed 100% tariffs on EVs made in China.

Cars

Tesla posts exaggerate self-driving capacity, safety regulators say

Beta of Tesla's FSD in a car.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is concerned that Tesla’s use of social media and its website makes false promises about the automaker’s full-self driving (FSD) software.
The warning dates back from May, but was made public in an email to Tesla released on November 8.
The NHTSA opened an investigation in October into 2.4 million Tesla vehicles equipped with the FSD software, following three reported collisions and a fatal crash. The investigation centers on FSD’s ability to perform in “relatively common” reduced visibility conditions, such as sun glare, fog, and airborne dust.
In these instances, it appears that “the driver may not be aware that he or she is responsible” to make appropriate operational selections, or “fully understand” the nuances of the system, NHTSA said.
Meanwhile, “Tesla’s X (Twitter) account has reposted or endorsed postings that exhibit disengaged driver behavior,” Gregory Magno, the NHTSA’s vehicle defects chief investigator, wrote to Tesla in an email.
The postings, which included reposted YouTube videos, may encourage viewers to see FSD-supervised as a “Robotaxi” instead of a partially automated, driver-assist system that requires “persistent attention and intermittent intervention by the driver,” Magno said.
In one of a number of Tesla posts on X, the social media platform owned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a driver was seen using FSD to reach a hospital while undergoing a heart attack. In another post, a driver said he had used FSD for a 50-minute ride home. Meanwhile, third-party comments on the posts promoted the advantages of using FSD while under the influence of alcohol or when tired, NHTSA said.
Tesla’s official website also promotes conflicting messaging on the capabilities of the FSD software, the regulator said.
NHTSA has requested that Tesla revisit its communications to ensure its messaging remains consistent with FSD’s approved instructions, namely that the software provides only a driver assist/support system requiring drivers to remain vigilant and maintain constant readiness to intervene in driving.
Tesla last month unveiled the Cybercab, an autonomous-driving EV with no steering wheel or pedals. The vehicle has been promoted as a robotaxi, a self-driving vehicle operated as part of a ride-paying service, such as the one already offered by Alphabet-owned Waymo.
But Tesla’s self-driving technology has remained under the scrutiny of regulators. FSD relies on multiple onboard cameras to feed machine-learning models that, in turn, help the car make decisions based on what it sees.
Meanwhile, Waymo’s technology relies on premapped roads, sensors, cameras, radar, and lidar (a laser-light radar), which might be very costly, but has met the approval of safety regulators.