5 ms·
Nothing about too much nuance: «My point was simple: if a cuckoo clock or a differential gear qualifies as a “proto-computer”, what doesn’t meet the bar? Almos
by tokai 3y ago
Nothing about too much nuance:
«My point was simple: if a cuckoo clock or a differential gear qualifies as a “proto-computer”, what doesn’t meet the bar? Almost any man-made tool performs some sort of a calculation.»
Its about the author arguing that an open definition of what a computer is, is too inclusive and uninteresting if you want to talk about the history of actual computers.
- YeGoblynQueenne 3y agoI agree that there's a qualitative difference between a cuckoo clock and a programmable computer, but the difference between a computer and a calculator or a fixed program computer is much less clear and much more open to arbitrary proclamations of what we can call a computer, and what not. Don't forget that modern computers include all sorts of special-purpose components, like ALUs etc. In the limit, a universal machine is the union of infinite non-universal machines, after all.