11 Feb
2015
11 Feb
'15
7:04 a.m.
On 2015-02-11 13:51, Noel Chiappa wrote:
No argument from me on that. I wasn't referring to impact.
From: Johnny
Billquist
And once more noone mentions Konrad Zuse, which
in my mind beat them
all
Well, two things. (And don't get me wrong, I admire Zuse and his work.)
First, Zuse's work didn't really have much impact. You may disagree, but my
sense is that if that bomb that destroyed the Z1 had gotten him too, the
post-WWII world would still look pretty much like the real one. Second, his early machines (Z1-Z3) weren't
stored-program (in the sense of
'one memory holds both instructions and data'). Yes, yes, I know the Z3 can
(with a monstrous kludge) be Turing-complete, but it still wasn't
stored-program - which to my mind, is _the_ key aspect of a real 'computer'.
What do you mean by "stored program" then? Since the Z3 stored its
programs on external tape.
But the Z4 should not be ignored either...
Johnny