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Re: What is the absolute smallest instruction set do you need to make a working computer?

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In message <5i4foelg0njuqoue46uudh75srbtfm83ak@4ax.com>, pyotr 
filipivich <phamp@mindspring.com> writes:
[]
>       Martin Gardner had an article about a "theoretical" 'primitive
>computer using pulleys and ropes in place of transistors (or tubes).
>In theory it would work, in practice there would be too much
>imprecision from the slack/stretch in the ropes for it to work.
>
Babbage (arguably only with modern materials) made a mechanical machine 
work. There are the mechanical equivalents of squaring circuits, 
thresholds etcetera. Electronic computers could be made to work with 
three or four voltage levels rather than two - it just reduces the noise 
margin, which puts limits on speed and distances. Presumably a 
pulleys/ropes machine could be made, as long as there were thresholds, 
and the mechanical equivalents of amplifiers (a rope-operated clutch 
perhaps? I'm not really a mechanical engineer).
-- 
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

"Flobalob" actually means "Flowerpot" in Oddle-Poddle.

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What is the absolute smallest instruction set do you need to make a working computer? Yousuf Khan <bbbl67@spammenot.yahoo.com> - 2019-09-21 18:45 -0400
  Re: What is the absolute smallest instruction set do you need to make a working computer? Roger Blake <rogblake@iname.invalid> - 2019-09-22 00:49 +0000
    Re: What is the absolute smallest instruction set do you need to make a working computer?  Arlen    Holder <arlen_h0ldr@arlinghlder.edu> - 2019-09-22 01:21 +0000
      Re: What is the absolute smallest instruction set do you need to make a working computer? Yousuf Khan <bbbl67@spammenot.yahoo.com> - 2019-09-22 00:46 -0400
        Re: What is the absolute smallest instruction set do you need to make a working computer? Jeff Barnett <jbb@notatt.com> - 2019-09-21 22:04 -0600
          Re: What is the absolute smallest instruction set do you need to make a working computer? Yousuf Khan <bbbl67@spammenot.yahoo.com> - 2019-09-22 01:00 -0400
            Re: What is the absolute smallest instruction set do you need to make a working computer? Jeff Barnett <jbb@notatt.com> - 2019-09-21 23:47 -0600
              Re: What is the absolute smallest instruction set do you need to make a working computer? Yousuf Khan <bbbl67@spammenot.yahoo.com> - 2019-09-22 08:59 -0400
                Re: What is the absolute smallest instruction set do you need to make a working computer? Jeff Barnett <jbb@notatt.com> - 2019-09-22 10:52 -0600
    Re: What is the absolute smallest instruction set do you need to make a working computer? "J. P. Gilliver (John)" <G6JPG@255soft.uk> - 2019-09-22 21:07 +0100
  Re: What is the absolute smallest instruction set do you need to make a working computer? VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> - 2019-09-22 01:26 -0500
    Re: What is the absolute smallest instruction set do you need to make a working computer? Yousuf Khan <bbbl67@spammenot.yahoo.com> - 2019-09-22 10:25 -0400
    Re: What is the absolute smallest instruction set do you need to make a working computer? pyotr filipivich <phamp@mindspring.com> - 2019-09-22 08:25 -0700
      Re: What is the absolute smallest instruction set do you need to make a working computer? "J. P. Gilliver (John)" <G6JPG@255soft.uk> - 2019-09-22 21:15 +0100
        Re: What is the absolute smallest instruction set do you need to make a working computer? pyotr filipivich <phamp@mindspring.com> - 2019-09-22 18:36 -0700
          Re: What is the absolute smallest instruction set do you need to make a working computer? Rene Lamontagne <rlamont@shaw.ca> - 2019-09-22 22:31 -0500
            Re: What is the absolute smallest instruction set do you need to make a working computer? pyotr filipivich <phamp@mindspring.com> - 2019-09-23 09:12 -0700

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