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Title: Could the Computer Age Have Begun in Victorian England? Post by: Bitbird on November 04, 2012, 05:18:56 PM Could the Computer Age Have Begun in Victorian England? | Charles Babbage Analytical Engine | LiveScience (http://www.livescience.com/24422-computer-age-victorian-england.html)
Quote A Victorian-era device might have jumpstarted the Computer Age more than 100 years before the first personal computers of Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. That century-old dream has inspired a British programmer to launch a crowd-funding effort that can finally make the steam-powered "Analytical Engine" a reality. The early computer concept — a brass-and-iron machine the size of a small steam locomotive — came from the mind of Charles Babbage, a famed mathematician who tinkered with different designs for the Analytical Engine until his death in 1871. The Plan 28 project aims to build Babbage's machine by raising $8 million (5 million in British pounds) over the next 10 years. ... Interesting news. Title: Re: Could the Computer Age Have Begun in Victorian England? Post by: logansryche on November 04, 2012, 05:21:56 PM that would be interesting to see I think...
Title: Re: Could the Computer Age Have Begun in Victorian England? Post by: edd on November 04, 2012, 06:14:14 PM Ah, yes, related to the difference engine, I'm sure.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/files.posterous.com/webzeugkoffer/jAfzocqElAwzFEwhhlAycxjjFnxuBlJxxtkBgvDFyzwAAdEAxlqteJGtpFic/media_httpimagessixre_fwIDr.jpg.scaled1000.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJFZAE65UYRT34AOQ&Expires=1352053021&Signature=nEcWzDCnd4Fs8OIcizCKimvLLL8%3D William Gibson and Bruce Sterling wrote a pretty good alternate history novel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Difference_Engine) featuring it. Title: Re: Could the Computer Age Have Begun in Victorian England? Post by: Phinnaeus Gage on November 04, 2012, 06:24:26 PM i agree that it needs some sort of background image, english notes have famous/influential people, USA has presidents. bitcoins could have cryptographers, computing pioneers, revolutionaries. anything that can be associated with bitcoins This is an outstanding idea. Charles Babbage Claude Shannon Alan Turing Gordon Moore Jack Kilby and there's many more. Title: Re: Could the Computer Age Have Begun in Victorian England? Post by: myrkul on November 04, 2012, 07:05:36 PM Ah, yes, related to the difference engine, I'm sure. http://s3.amazonaws.com/files.posterous.com/webzeugkoffer/jAfzocqElAwzFEwhhlAycxjjFnxuBlJxxtkBgvDFyzwAAdEAxlqteJGtpFic/media_httpimagessixre_fwIDr.jpg.scaled1000.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJFZAE65UYRT34AOQ&Expires=1352053021&Signature=nEcWzDCnd4Fs8OIcizCKimvLLL8%3D William Gibson and Bruce Sterling wrote a pretty good alternate history novel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Difference_Engine) featuring it. Beat me to it. Excellent book, even had a pneumatic "internet," if I recall correctly. Title: Re: Could the Computer Age Have Begun in Victorian England? Post by: FirstAscent on November 04, 2012, 08:19:32 PM It is interesting, but it isn't really new. This project has been underway for over two years.
What I find most annoying in the quoted article is the following statement: Quote A Victorian-era device might have jumpstarted the Computer Age more than 100 years before the first personal computers of Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are so irrelevant to this subject. I think Alan Turing and John von Neumann would have been better persons to credit. As an aside, consider the bombe, developed by Alan Turing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombe Video of bombe in operation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlzooYzhzJo Title: Re: Could the Computer Age Have Begun in Victorian England? Post by: benjamindees on November 04, 2012, 08:54:15 PM Not really "news". One of the first retail software stores was called "Babbage's".
Also, the first hacker: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_Lovelace Not to be confused with "Lady Ada" of Arduino fame: http://www.adafruit.com/ Title: Re: Could the Computer Age Have Begun in Victorian England? Post by: Lethn on November 05, 2012, 04:22:54 AM ...... Steampunk? :D
Title: Re: Could the Computer Age Have Begun in Victorian England? Post by: myrkul on November 05, 2012, 04:48:44 AM ...... Steampunk? :D Yup, this particular "what if..." is one of the core ones for Steampunk. Title: Re: Could the Computer Age Have Begun in Victorian England? Post by: mufa23 on November 05, 2012, 04:52:46 AM By technicality, it started with the Abacus. But yes, it picked up speed thousands of years later when Babbage and Lovelace worked together. The invention of the transistor made gates and circuits possible, and further pushed it forward. But I believe the actually era started with the von Neumann architecture. Which, from what I remember, is the bases in which all modern computers act today.
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