the analog computer

C

c1t1z3n

New Member
with all the theory available in this area you would have thought we would be capable of producing such a machine - with the apparent lack as such it can only be assumed that is beyond our technological capacity.
 
The first computers were analog computers :confused:

It is easily within our technological grasp, but why would it be desirable to create one now?


EDIT: Well, assuming you mean a PC
 
check out Imsai 8080. I built one about 1972. 16 switches for address bus and 8 for the data bus. In a kit from Heathkit i think. I wish i would have kept it. also built one in the 60's. 8008 cpu. getting rid of was a mistake.
My favorite was the Z80.
 
Analog computer.

Large_wooden_abacus.jpg
 
Really, if we look at computing, discarding biological computation (living things) the first computers used by man were rocks, used to count. They could be moved one at a time in order to count. granted they couldn't perform quite as many calculations as modern computers but as for stuff like + and - they suited human ancestors well. The next step up as already shown was the abacus, it could "run" the calculations faster. And then of course as already posted we made "proper" analog computers. Analog computers have been done, they were just upgraded to digital. The first "proper" analog computer that we have record of is the antikythera mechanism which was made by the ancient greeks, i believe, to calculate the times of solar eclipses.
 
Analog computers that were typically used to simulate mechanical or electrical systems started to die out in the 1970s. They worked using op amps, basic electronic items like resistors, capacitors and bunches of patch cords. Around that time, programs like CSMP (a variant of Fortran) were available but required a mainframe or network of mainframes to run. These days that network has been replaced by the thing that sits on your desk. As they say, "Once you've had digital, you'll never go back to analog".
 
dave1701 said:
Analog sound is better than digital.
Click to expand...
There is no such thing as digital sound. All sound is analog - pressure waves in the air, water or whatever physical medium you are in. If you are referring to sound sources, "better" for what and what source are you referring to? Edison's phonographs were not very good at all.
 
I was saying that anaglog recordings mimic the waves of the real sound, as digital recordings are just bits and peices of it.
 
dave1701 said:
I was saying that anaglog recordings mimic the waves of the real sound, as digital recordings are just bits and peices of it.
Click to expand...
That may be true as a scientific fact but given the incredible resolution that is available today in digital computing it's not significant. To play any sound back it has to go through some mechanical device that trashes the quality and smooths out the digital "steps". Our hearing is not acute enough to tell the difference. When you factor in the invulnerability of digital to noise and degradation, analog is inferior. All analog media deteriorate with time and use (although I suppose these days you could play an LP with a laser instead of stylus).

Where people save mp3s at 128kbps, that is not representative of good digital audio. That is purely to stuff a load of tracks in a small device at listenable quality. A CD is about 1400kbps. Suppose we recorded audio at video rates eg 4Mbps and used VBR to give constant quality. That would be indistinguishable from the analog it came from other than in scientific nitpicking.
 
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