Above, you see two of McDonald's Finest. On the right is a Big Mac, freshly made in 2008. On the left, a rather more vintage specimen, embalmed at the factory with the usual edible preservatives to keep it juicy and tender right up until you gobble it down. But nobody ate it, and it still looks as fresh as it did the day it was made, twelve years ago.

In 1996, the iPod was but an itch in Steve Jobs' loin. When the first of the iconic white bricks rolled off the line, this burger was already five years old. If it was human, it would have started school already. At my current iPod burn rate of one every two years, this mummified pattie would outlast six of them, and it's still going strong.

The burger has been kept by nutrition teacher Karen Hanrahan in order to rather effectively demonstrate the perils of technology when brought to fast food (see, there is a gadget angle in this story):

People always ask me - what did you do to preserve it?

Nothing - it preserved itself.

Ladies, Gentleman, and children alike - this is a chemical food. There is absolutely no nutrition here.

If Hanrahan ever needs a little extra cash, she could sell this right into the collectors market: She even kept the original 1990s packaging.

1996 McDonalds Hamburger [Best Wellness Consultant via Kottke]