3 ms·

Honestly, I've always thought a high quality 3D computer model of the entire thing (including the peripherals) would serve the purpose of learning about this st

Honestly, I've always thought a high quality 3D computer model of the entire thing (including the peripherals) would serve the purpose of learning about this stuff much better; an added benefit: doesn't take space. Learning in the virtual space in general has a huge potential. Even watching educational videos (like those found in abundance on YouTube) suffices in many cases. The age of plastic toys is behind us.

pmiller2 6y ago
Hard, hard disagree. Nothing beats learning by getting your hands on a thing.
- burnte 6y ago
  Agreed that hands on is always best, but virtual is great if you can lay hands on. PDPs are a bit hard to ship around.
  - pmiller2 6y ago
    Right? We're talking about the PiDP here, aren't we?
- newswasboring 6y ago
  VR can help with that. Not with all things as haptic feedback is not not ready yet. But there are people already making gloves with feedback for 50 dollars or so.
- TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
  Hard disagree with your disagree. A detailed 3D model could make it possible to zoom down to the gate level and show states propagating as the processor works - optionally with timed animations showing actual physical propagation, as opposed to an idealised logical model. And then up to module and board level. And so on. It would be hugely more informative than a physical panel of blinkenlights and switches.
watersb 6y ago
Typing stuff, interacting at a virtual terminal, sure. But if you key in a bootloader via the toggle switches on the console, you quickly learn to think in octal (base-8). If you live with the console blinkenlights for a while, you get a sense of roughly what the machine is doing as it winds its way through the code. As with flight simulators, you can learn a great deal with virtual machines and simulators. But without tactile feedback, you won't quite understand how other people experienced these machines. And much of the programming idioms arise from those experiences.
spfzero 6y ago
Interestingly, the author gives four reasons for building the project. Four “purposes” if you will. Learning was not one of them.

pmiller2 6y ago

Hard, hard disagree. Nothing beats learning by getting your hands on a thing.

burnte 6y ago
Agreed that hands on is always best, but virtual is great if you can lay hands on. PDPs are a bit hard to ship around.
- pmiller2 6y ago
  Right? We're talking about the PiDP here, aren't we?
newswasboring 6y ago
VR can help with that. Not with all things as haptic feedback is not not ready yet. But there are people already making gloves with feedback for 50 dollars or so.
TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
Hard disagree with your disagree. A detailed 3D model could make it possible to zoom down to the gate level and show states propagating as the processor works - optionally with timed animations showing actual physical propagation, as opposed to an idealised logical model. And then up to module and board level. And so on. It would be hugely more informative than a physical panel of blinkenlights and switches.

watersb 6y ago

Typing stuff, interacting at a virtual terminal, sure. But if you key in a bootloader via the toggle switches on the console, you quickly learn to think in octal (base-8). If you live with the console blinkenlights for a while, you get a sense of roughly what the machine is doing as it winds its way through the code. As with flight simulators, you can learn a great deal with virtual machines and simulators. But without tactile feedback, you won't quite understand how other people experienced these machines. And much of the programming idioms arise from those experiences.

spfzero 6y ago

Interestingly, the author gives four reasons for building the project. Four “purposes” if you will. Learning was not one of them.