20 Mar
1998
20 Mar
'98
6:07 p.m.
On Sat, 21 Mar 1998, Roger Merchberger wrote:
The absolute definition of a computer as I remember
it goes thusly:
"An instrument which can perform arithmatic and logical functions without
the aid of a human."
That's too ambiguous to me. All computers require the aid of a human at
some point. What's the diff if I pay Bill Gates to program mine or if I
work the slides on my slide rule?
I think it comes down to the fall-back definition:
"You know a computer when you see one."
As for me, whenever I see little chicklet keys on a calculator, that's
enough for me to say it's not a computer :-)
-- Doug