21 Jan
2004
21 Jan
'04
6:09 a.m.
From: "R. D. Davis" <rdd(a)rddavis.org>
Quothe John Lawson, from writings of Tue, Jan 20, 2004 at 03:55:27PM -0500:
Hi
Actually I've given quite a bit a thought about
making a computer that uses marbles instead of electricity
or water. You'd put a bucket of marbles at the top and
turn the crank. Gravity would bring the mrbles to the bottom
where one could scoop them up and recycle.
Dwight
And no one has had the utter madness to
suggest a replica of the Mark I
or II relay machine..... or the SSEC.... or any of the Bell System relay
computers....
Relays don't normally glow, alas, but they do make nice sounds.
My preference is for a digital computer using water instead of
electricity, but no one's mentioned one of those yet.
21 Jan
21 Jan
7:58 a.m.
On Wed, 21 Jan 2004, Dwight K. Elvey wrote:
Actually I've given quite a bit a thought about
making a computer that uses marbles instead of electricity
or water. You'd put a bucket of marbles at the top and
turn the crank. Gravity would bring the mrbles to the bottom
where one could scoop them up and recycle.
Hey Dwight.
That's been done (sort of). It's called Dr. Nim :) They come up on eBay
periodically.
BTW, you have the same Reply-To: problem as Adrian did. Are you also
using OE? If you are, check to see if you've set the Reply-To: address is
your configuration and remove it ;)
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
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10:10 a.m.
On Wed, Jan 21, 2004 at 10:58:54AM -0800, Vintage Computer Festival wrote:
On Wed, 21 Jan 2004, Dwight K. Elvey wrote:
I know... I just won one. :-)
-ethan
--
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Actually I've given quite a bit a thought
about
making a computer that uses marbles instead of electricity
or water. You'd put a bucket of marbles at the top and
turn the crank. Gravity would bring the mrbles to the bottom
where one could scoop them up and recycle.
Hey Dwight.
That's been done (sort of). It's called Dr. Nim :) They come up on eBay
periodically. 
1:17 p.m.
That's been done (sort of). It's called Dr.
Nim :)
They come up on eBay periodically.
I've haven't seen Dr. Nim work**
I have a few still pictures here, from eBay, but not the machine.
Can somebody make a small .mpg file of it working?
John A.
**at least, not since the TV commercials nearly 40 years ago.
1:58 p.m.
On Wed, 21 Jan 2004, John Allain wrote:
I wish I had the time. But it really is quite a clever design. And a
great way to get one started in mechanical computing elements (which is
what the DigiComp 1 is, made by ESR, the same company that made Dr. Nim).
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
[ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ]
[ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]
That's
been done (sort of). It's called Dr. Nim :)
They come up on eBay periodically.
I've haven't seen Dr. Nim work**
I have a few still pictures here, from eBay, but not the machine.
Can somebody make a small .mpg file of it working?
7489
days inactive
7489
days old
4 comments
4 participants
participants (4)
-
allain＠panix.com -
dickset＠amanda.spole.gov -
dwight.elvey＠amd.com -
vcf＠siconic.com