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I remember going to the Deutsches Technikmuseum in Berlin. They had an amazing exhibit on the development of mechanical computers from automated looms and the o

by hyperion2010 12y ago

I remember going to the Deutsches Technikmuseum in Berlin. They had an amazing exhibit on the development of mechanical computers from automated looms and the origin of punch cards which were used in automated stitching machines. They had a model of the Z1. I have never encounter another presentation of the development of technology that made progress seem so orderly and inevitable (obviously massive hindsight bias). The Z1 was absolutely incredible and it really drove home the point that switches are switches, regardless of whether they are implemented as a transistor or a metal lever.

exDM69 12y ago
I visited that exhibit in Berlin too. There was two or three Zuse computers on display as well as a bunch of other early European computers. It was a very nice exhibit. It was particularly enlightening to see the various technologies being used, today all computers are made of silicon chips, but the exhibit had electro-mechanical, electro magnetic (memory), vacuum tube and solid state computers on display. I don't know if it is a touring exhibit or is it still in Berlin, but I recommend anyone to visit that.
- schoen 12y ago
  It was in Berlin at the new year, and didn't look like it was going anywhere. :-) Konrad Zuse's son is a retired computer science professor who built one of the replicas in the exhibit, and still sometimes lectures on it and demonstrates it. http://www.horst-zuse.homepage.t-online.de/ http://www.horst-zuse.homepage.t-online.de/
solarexplorer 12y ago
Here is a photo of the thing in the living room of his parents: http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/z/z1.jpg http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/z/z1.jpg
__m 12y ago
a good online resource is the Konrad Zuse Internet Archive, which is a cooperation with the DT museum http://zuse.zib.de/ http://zuse.zib.de/ z1: http://zuse-z1.zib.de/ http://zuse-z1.zib.de/
rootbear 12y ago
I took German in College but I'm far from fluent. Is this exhibit accessible to an English speaker who knows ein bisschen Deutsch?

exDM69 12y ago

I visited that exhibit in Berlin too. There was two or three Zuse computers on display as well as a bunch of other early European computers. It was a very nice exhibit. It was particularly enlightening to see the various technologies being used, today all computers are made of silicon chips, but the exhibit had electro-mechanical, electro magnetic (memory), vacuum tube and solid state computers on display. I don't know if it is a touring exhibit or is it still in Berlin, but I recommend anyone to visit that.

schoen 12y ago
It was in Berlin at the new year, and didn't look like it was going anywhere. :-) Konrad Zuse's son is a retired computer science professor who built one of the replicas in the exhibit, and still sometimes lectures on it and demonstrates it. http://www.horst-zuse.homepage.t-online.de/ http://www.horst-zuse.homepage.t-online.de/

solarexplorer 12y ago

Here is a photo of the thing in the living room of his parents: http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/z/z1.jpg http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/z/z1.jpg

__m 12y ago

a good online resource is the Konrad Zuse Internet Archive, which is a cooperation with the DT museum http://zuse.zib.de/ http://zuse.zib.de/ z1: http://zuse-z1.zib.de/ http://zuse-z1.zib.de/

rootbear 12y ago

I took German in College but I'm far from fluent. Is this exhibit accessible to an English speaker who knows ein bisschen Deutsch?