7 Nov
2000
7 Nov
'00
9:23 a.m.
On Tue, 7 Nov 2000, Mark Green wrote:
Depends. In the 1940s and 1950s they were used in
both analogue
and digital computers. After the early 1960s, tubes were replaced
by transistors in digital computers (at least in North America), but
they were still used in analogue computers. In terms of pure numbers,
analogue computers greatly out numbered digital computers until some
point in the 1960s. In the simulation area, digital computers didn't
become cost effective for many applications until around 1970, particularly
those requiring real-time. So, for early computers the use of tubes
wasn't a good indication of whether the computer was analogue or
digital.
The distinction between an analog computer and a digital computer is not
in what components they use but rather the method by which they "compute".
Analog computing is a completely different paradigm.
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org