It's beautiful, and yes, it's programmable to a certain extent.
But it's not really an ancestor to todays computers.
Their lineage is from the mechanized looms, with Basile Bouchon's invention of the paper tape control in 1725...
Yes, the ancestry to the modern computer can be traced back 288 years. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basile_Bouchon
Mickster
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erco posted a link to that a while back http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php/150358-240-Y.O.-Writing-Automaton
Quess you missed it...
It is impressive!
I really must've been preoccupied to miss it. Oh well maybe there are others who also missed it so it's worth a re-run, I guess :-)
Mickster
But it's not really an ancestor to todays computers.
Their lineage is from the mechanized looms, with Basile Bouchon's invention of the paper tape control in 1725...
Yes, the ancestry to the modern computer can be traced back 288 years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basile_Bouchon
Mickster