Could the Computer Age Have Begun in Victorian England?

[Bitbird]

Could the Computer Age Have Begun in Victorian England? | Charles Babbage Analytical Engine | LiveScience

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.

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[logansryche]

that would be interesting to see I think...

[edd]

Ah, yes, related to the difference engine, I'm sure.


William Gibson and Bruce Sterling wrote a pretty good alternate history novel featuring it.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

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.

[myrkul]

Ah, yes, related to the difference engine, I'm sure.


William Gibson and Bruce Sterling wrote a pretty good alternate history novel featuring it.

Beat me to it. Excellent book, even had a pneumatic "internet," if I recall correctly.

[FirstAscent]

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:

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

[benjamindees]

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/

[Lethn]

...... Steampunk?

[myrkul]

...... Steampunk?

Yup, this particular "what if..." is one of the core ones for Steampunk.

[mufa23]

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.