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As a boy I read Asimov's "I, Robot" books, and I remember even back then I thought it strange that the robot's programming was stored on paper tape..
by Tor3 8y ago
As a boy I read Asimov's "I, Robot" books, and I remember even back then I thought it strange that the robot's programming was stored on paper tape..
- kumarharsh 8y agoI think most of them later had positronic brains, especially in the short stories and Foundation saga.
- Tor3 8y agoAs I recall they all had positronic brains from the beginning, but the factory that created them used programming on paper tape to feed into whatever created the brain pattern. I vaguely remember a plot that was about some school class visiting the factory and a boy managing to fiddle with the paper tape and change the programming.
- cgriswald 8y agoThis is where the reader’s imagination can fill in the gaps. Paper will survive magnetic fields , heat, and rapid changes in temperature that traditional storage won’t. It’s also cheap and disposable. Maybe one or more of these is an issue when trying to cost-effectively get the initial programming into these things. We conveniently don’t really know how they work.
- tartoran 8y agoIf you think through, analog books are like paper tape. It is possible that future robots will be able to browse analog books and "program" themselves
- SmellyGeekBoy 8y agoLike Johnny 5's "input" in Short Circuit 2 ;)