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Jun. 19th, 2008 08:43 pmA few minutes ago Ben told me he wanted to draw the inside of a digital computer, and asked me what they look like.
I told him that it was electronics, a lot of which are too small to see, but mainly it's a very big collection of on-off switches. So he started scribbling a picture of that and then said, "Maybe there could be gears and rollers that flip the switches on and off, and change the numbers?" and he started drawing a highly simplified picture of such a device, talking to himself as he went--"this shaft will turn this gear, which turns this other gear, and that turns these rollers that have cams that push the switches..."
I bet he wishes to God these calculations had been executed by steam.
I told him that it was electronics, a lot of which are too small to see, but mainly it's a very big collection of on-off switches. So he started scribbling a picture of that and then said, "Maybe there could be gears and rollers that flip the switches on and off, and change the numbers?" and he started drawing a highly simplified picture of such a device, talking to himself as he went--"this shaft will turn this gear, which turns this other gear, and that turns these rollers that have cams that push the switches..."
I bet he wishes to God these calculations had been executed by steam.
