4 ms·
A sort of low tech precursor to the fax machine.
by brk 4y ago
A sort of low tech precursor to the fax machine.
- sidewndr46 4y agoTo me it is actually a digitization of an analog process, then back to analog. The tape with the holes punched appears to be digital (holes are either punched or not).
- justsomehnguy 4y agoThen a carpet loom is digital too, because it is punch card operated.
- ElfinTrousers 4y agoYou are correct. We're used to thinking of "digital" as implying "electronic", but that's only because our world contains huge numbers of digital electronic systems.
- sidewndr46 4y agoThe opposite exists as well, "electronic" is conflated with "digital" quite often when it does not mean that.
- justsomehnguy 4y ago> holes are either punched or not This describes a binary encoding, not a digital process. Otherwise any powerbutton is 'digital', because it's on or off.
- ElfinTrousers 4y agoYou are also correct: power buttons are digital. Contrast to a dimmer switch that can be set to any arbitrary point in a range.
- tokai 4y agoIsn't the fax machine from the mid 1800s?
- jonsen 4y ago"...first commercial telefax service between Paris and Lyon in 1865, some 11 years before the invention of the telephone": https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fax#Wire_transmission https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fax#Wire_transmission
- jonsen 4y agoFor some interpretation of "low".