COMPUTERS REQUIRE COMPUTERS

Think back to your earliest recollection of computers.

Do you remember Windows ME or Windows for Workgroups? Do you remember when True-Type fonts came on the scene? Well, think back farther than that… Do you remember OS2? How about DOS?

Does your memory go back to the Sinclair ZX81? Or the Osborne? How about the Commodore Pet or the Apple? How about the Radio Shack TRS-80?

OK, what about the IBM mainframe… Do you remember stories of huge temperature controlled rooms, or that the term “bug” actually goes back to the day a moth got stuck in a relay, messing up computations?

Well, there are some people that want to go back to 1837, Yes, 1837! That’s when a mathematician named Charles Babbage came up with an “Analytical Engine.” This was a mechanical device for doing complex math calculations programmatically. It was an unique concept that was continually being revised. It was a monstrosity and only a few basic parts were built for testing.

But there are people who would like to finally build the thing to demonstrate what the first computer could have been. Not surprisingly, it will take a lot donations to make it happen (http://www.pledgebank.com/babbage). But more interestingly, it will take a computer model to actually figure out the final design. Maybe that’s why the thing was never built – it requires a computer to to make a computer!