The World Of Strange Computers
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Explore the fascinating world of unconventional computers that defied the norms of their time, revolutionizing diverse fields from engineering to economics, torpedo guidance, digital logic, and animation. From Lukyanov's ingenious Water Integrator solving complex equations using water flow to Moniac's hydraulic macroeconomics modeling, delve into the Torpedo Data Computer's role in WWII, the conceptual marvel of Domino Computers, and the pioneering analog magic of Scanimate in producing early motion graphics. Witness how these unconventional machines shaped industries, solving complex problems in ways that predated the modern era of computing.
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3:16 "Icy terrain of Antarctica" is on the other side of the planet. The Soviet icy part (I mean, the more icy part) called "Arctica".
Don't know how accurate but there's a story of an economist who met a manager from the power company. The economist told the manager that the econometric models used to predict GDP growth had electricity growth forecasts from the power company, as one of the inputs. Interesting, said the manager, we use your GDP projections to forecast our electricity growth.
This is analogous to another story about a clock and watch store. The owner went out to sweep the sidewalk in front of the store when he encountered a man in overalls peering through the window looking at the very large showpiece clock and setting his pocket watch. They exchanged pleasantries and the man told him he was the manager at the plant down the road. “I need to keep the time clock at the plant correctly set,” he said. “Oh,” said the jeweler, “I set this clock to the right time every day I hear the 5pm whistle from your plant.”
It's kind of logical. . . . Not the time keeping analogy . That just means if one time is wrong than all times will be. But no one will know as long as in sync. However that may be all that matters. But in the case of the GDP. And Power Use. Well like with our biology. If the heart is needing to pump however hard to supply the body, well then the brain has an Idea of how heavily breathing needs be in order to supply enough oxygen to support the endeavor. So If GDP knows if they gonna grow so much, they should have an idea of how much power would be needed to succeed In such endeavor. . And likewise if GDP is claiming to expand to whatever degree the power company via past experiences, should have idea of how much they should expand in order to fill that appetit. The analogy with the time keeping. That's just disastrous
@@ibnewton8951 >analogous >mechanical watches This is a high tier pun, lmao =)
Bitcoin company
@@Smith1980 I agree it may make sense for the two to take the other into account as part of their estimation, but if either one depends entirely on the other, while the other depends somewhat on the one, then it seems that a mistake has been made.
2:38 - Giving a whole new meaning to the phrase "data leak".
Or "memory leak" 😅
BOOOOOO! (Just kidding, it was a good joke!)
"Water integrator" - A bucket being filled with water is a perfect analog of mathematical integration ! You can solve a multi-order differential equation, by string several integrators in series. In engineering school, in the early 1980s, we used, then outdated, analog computers, as "deluxe" 100-in-1 circuit kits. But, in a few labs, we used them to setup and solve differential equations.
You have the best youtube channel. Learning about obscure things like this is my JAM.
Computers are the most advanced invention of mankind, yet it is so easy for us to take them for granted.
Ikr
I had no idea about the water actuator. This is right up my alley and I'm shocked this slipped by me all this time.
The model of the MONIAC at 5:17 is located at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Museum, don’t think it’s been run in a while, but every time I pass it I stare at it in wonder! Thank you very much for your clear explanations :)
Didn't knew effects were made by analog devices. That's incredible
Sir Terry Pratchett has someone implement a system similar to the MONIAC in the Discworld series. I never knew it was based on a real thing. Of course, being a Discworld book, the "simulation" valves ended up having unpredictable results...
Yes this looked very similar to that thing in "Making Money" although there changing the knobs also changed the economy (although nobody knows that)
Holy shit, thanks for posting this. The soviet water integrator is an ingenious example for our ability to make use of the things we have to, no matter how constrained
Submarine combat is always fascinating to me. Like, imagine trying to hit a helicopter with an arrow while you're lying on the ground with your eyes closed. That's essentially what sinking a surface ship with an unguided torpedo is like.
James Bond managed to hit a helicopter with a missile from car underwater.
Two modern examples: - Piping an image through a multimodal lass fiber scrambles it, but the result is actually more easily classifiable by a simpler neural network. The fiber does some computational work! - Reservoir computing is also a weird idea
And now I know where Terry Pratchett's calculator in "Making Money" comes from.
Yes, Pratchett was just a genius !
If analogue computers have solutions for kinetic interference and cold-welding, I think they'd be superior in military/space applications because of the absolute resistance to radiation.
The next iPhone will use a hydraulic computer. It will be called the iDraulic.
I watched this video to find out more about its title and ended watching several times. I was not mindblown, but rather like discovering a series of sealed geniuses Cave of Treasures. While exploring one you found out other ways to other forms of Forgotten / Hidden Knowledge. My highest gratitudes to New Mind KZheadrs.
The Reserve Bank of NZ used a water analogue computer for economic analysis. It now exists in their museum.
15:02 That’s really slick! It’s almost like a modular synth, but your original “oscillator” is the camera. I think i have seen “Glitch Art” made by manipulating analog video, but never realized it was used in such a common thing. Neat!
Using the video as direct feedback into itself can make some really trippy fractals lol. Kinda like when streamers today (or just people sharing their screen) accidentally show the stream on stream and it tunnels like mirrors pointed at each other 😅 But with actual effects, like making 2 copies and playing that back into itself so it makes for, or more complicated and nuanced ones, it can get really intricate! There's even a way to do similar things with powerpoint slides embedded in themselves to make simple fractals!!!
There are several tide computers that use a system of pulleys and wire to plot the tides that ran on well into the digital age.
this is easily one of the most fascinating videos i've seen in ages!
Oldies but favorites are the few thousand year old mechanical computers like the Chinese astronomy wooden computer tower, and my all time fav is the bronze antikythera device also predating is by millennia and masterfully crafted
You might want to check out the Soviet Setun ternary computer. I am quite fadcinated by technology and computers in particular. I never heard of those computers in the video (beside the domino) and I loved your video a lot. Thank you so much for all your effort.
This machine sounds like it's something out of a science fiction. CRAZY. Even Crazier that i've NEVER SEEN THIS EVER in any Science Fiction media. And i've read A LOT of SF books.
the complexity of animations back then, and now you can ask an AI to make anything you want, done in a few seconds
Very well presented information. Excellent vids.
This is absolutely fascinating! Subbed!!
This is my jam! cant get enough of odd compute devices
Falling asleep to this gave me a sense of calm and wonder. I got to learn and dream, very soothing and highly informative.
Uncommonly good subject videos.. now subscribed.
Subjects for the missing 'Part 2": the fluidic logic computer from Sperry-Univac, the Totalisator, the electronic analog research computers produced by the likes of Elliot, etc, differential analysers made from Meccano such as the example in Auckland's MOTAT.
Wow, these computers Are really strange. Well done video.
@16:41 a mug adding to overall user experince 'wow' factor :-)
Interesting , Thank You .
if you do something like this again, one form of logic I've seen in one textbook, and never again, is fluid flow logic. It used the tendency of flowing fluids, such as air, to stick to a surface, so it wasn't pressure based. The example I remember most was an rs latch that had an input stream of air that would stick to a curve on one side of the latch, and flow to an output. a puff of air from the side would push the flow to stick to the other side of the channel, and leave via a different output, with a puff of air from the other side would push it back to stick to the first side again. The textbook was half electronic logic, using relays or transistors i think, and half fluid logic with various plexiglass gates allowing flow through a series of gates to do computations.
Incredible. I am speechless. 😮😯😲
Digital Derby was a handheld game and there was nothing digital about it.. Completely run by gears, a motor and a solenoid... genius
I mostly liked the SCANIMATor analog frankenstein thing, it's astonishing how such a thing could even exist for real
One of fantastic and fascinating technology that i knew today.
subtitles are not available 😢
hello, fellow subtitle user
Amazing, I want the schematics of these.
Great video 😊
These are very cool. One thing tho, if the system under study was chaotic, meaning that its very highly sensitive to initial conditions, and they had no idea. It would’ve driven the researchers absolutely bonkerz 😂, coz every time it would’ve given a totally different answer. Even nowadays that we use numerical methods to solve the so called impossible differential equations. If the system is chaotic, it does the same thing.
That's why the economists said the system wasn't accurate, it was just meant as a teaching tool.
@@cerebralm It doesn’t matter how accurate the machine is, if the system is “chaotic”, predictions far into the future is impossible. We began to learn about chaos in the 1970s I think, when digital computers were invented, so they wouldn’t have known about it. Even with today’s highly accurate computers, it does the same thing.
I like the cup-holder rack module, at 16:45.
" ... so this is a quick presentation of the Water integrator. Next : The Water Dis-integrator!"
Scanimate is mesmerizing
Learning about Water integrator was cool!
I've always been interested in analog computers run on electricity. The ones that use op-amps for integration/differentiation/summation etc. There is a really amazing demonstration how they are programmed and run: kzhead.info/sun/ZtiIcZx-pmiYank/bejne.html It's very unusual because programming it involves connecting cables between different circuits. But, Despite this being a really great explanation, the math is over my head. I know a little bit of calculus, but not differential equations. So, I'm taking it upon myself to learn differential equations at some point, and maybe, hopefully one day build a crude analog computer. I certainly have enough op-amps to do it (literally pennies a piece these days). I've built digital CPUs, ALUs, memory/register modules etc to put together and make a crude digital computer from scratch, not even cards or motherboards, just chips and transistors etc. It feels like it would be a fitting "prequel" to build an analog computer.
So nice to see a Slide Rule
10:30 for about a minute on, some of this reminds me of the Turbo Encabulator video. lol
Excellent
Very cool video
Sound very similar to Van Gelder's centrifugal governor I learned in an Ai class.
When the Minister for the Economy showed the National Development Program (early 1970s) to Economist and Opera Critic Mario Henrique Simonsen, the Professor replied "I don't read fiction". I bet if someone had invited him to see the Macroeconomic Computer he would say "I don't watch fiction". Analog computers are powerful and some even fit around a wristwatch! (that sliding ruler some watches have). Now ... let's keep watching to see if the video will mention an imprecise processor Tim Palmer talked about on some lecture of his.
Continuous gates hold so much more information then discret gates. It took millions of transistors to imitate what a few water pipes could do. The day we achieve miniaturization of continuous gates like we did with transistors, we will discover a new era of computing.
Fascinating, smart people finding solutions by making their own tools, will be interesting to see if llm ai needs something more than the sum of human knowledge to make the big advances moving forward.
... and don't forget the greatest of all: the Antikythera mechanism!
How do you retain all this knowledge from your videos?
Excellent video. Thanks from Colorado.
Also was a computer in anciante Greece (i guess) , it was found on sinked ship, this analog mechanism can predict planet movements by gear mechanism
You’re thinking of the en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism There have been a lot of pretty amazing computers like that throughout history.
Ok, and how large are the holes in all the tubing of the MONIAC representing graft and cprruption?
plz make detailed vdo on water computer
brilliant
the real question is, can they run Doom?
everywhere else you engineer things for water, in soviet Russia, water engineers things for you
Naval gunfire control systems way more complicated than torpedo systems. Were analog into the 80’s. Add another axis because you’re also shooting at airplanes.
sigh, i genuinely had hoped someone had made something like that calculate computer in the thumbnail.
Aaaaah so this pump valve machine is what an igor operates to see a representation of the world in that terry pratchett book
No mention of Charles Babbage? No mention of the Difference Engine? No Ada Lovelace? Oh well..
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Babbage really only invented the digital programmable computer which compared to these mostly analogue ones is much less bizarre given that it was the groundwork for modern computing
@@defectivetoaster7713 You are speaking in hindsight. The Difference Engine was just as fascinating to ever be thought up.
@@defectivetoaster7713 Ordinarily I wouldn't respond to this post but did you really write "Babbage really only invented the digital programmable computer"? Really? The man wrought our entire world in brass and gears and you think that deserves a "REALLY ONLY"? He designed the Analytic Engine from whole cloth (actually whole brass and steel) the reason it was never delivered was that as he was building it he was redesigning it. But it works! It's sitting in the UK Science museum right now. As for the Difference Engine it was so fearsomely complicated it was beyond the manufacturing capabilities of the time but it was built eventually. It also is in the UK Science Museum and it works as the man intended. And don't get me started on Ada Lovelace, only the world's first computer programmer. But yeah, demonstrating a NAND gate with dominoes. That's a computer.
I don't know why YT keeps sending me these but what I saw in the thumbnail was what I expected to see. I thought someone built some sort of interesting device. Some historical facts were interesting but then while narration went on we start seeing a bunch of videos captured on cell phones, you know the ones with all the distortion on the sides where it looks like a vertical collidescope. Hydrolic, pneumatic and mechanical computation has been around for a long time.
Hello ❤
you missed a cherry opportunity for a "trickle-down economics" joke
Was expecting slime molds to be on the list....
The missile knows where it is at all times.......
Surprised you didn’t cover some of the Minecraft computers that have been built over the years 😊
Computer is kind of tool, or tool to compute. The essence of tool is to make work easier. The domino computer make work harder.
Animation sequencers look like Winamp animations, actually
am I going insane I thought I already watched this video I watched this video 19 minutes after it was posted and yet it's not an my history
Isn't that the actual "conventional computing"?! since it has been utilized before our current technology.. Unconventional might be something like silicon photonics (which I'd love to see you cover btw)
I would use titles and small breaks between each story.
We could use CRISPR to grow crystalline computers that operate using photons instead of bits heh
The fatal flaw with the Moniac is it did not, and in fact, could not, nor ever will be able to compensate for the printing press - government printing of fiat currency by diktat.
Great video, but first thumbnail made me to not watch it. Too big clickbait ;) But it was worth to watch.
If you wanna see a truly unconventional computer, search this: "Let's BUILD a COMPUTER in CONWAY's GAME of LIFE"
Could not the domino computer reset if weighted dominos were mounted on wires? - think table football figures.
reup?
It's not almost disposable it literally is disposable even single use devices designed to be used once and thrown away have computing power of 70s high end fridge size machines
Now make it run Doom
But does it work below freezing temperature?
Also, computers implemented on Minecraft.
TriSolaran physical computer wasn’t mentioned? WTF mate?
Someone Tom Hardy’d my vision! 1:00
That itch is still trying to ghost bust me and it’s distracting! 2:51
Ed i mean! 3:35
I think the video would be better if there was more information and less flourish. Water integrator gets more modular, what does that even mean? It then gets more modular?? I don't need to hear so many adjectives, its a video essay not a written essay, so you should be expressing details through visuals and flourish through intonation and structure. From 3:00 to 3:30, there is almost no useful information beyond the factoid the water integrator gets mass produced. Interesting material though. C-
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You think that is amazing, remember that nuclear reactors were controlled by pure analog signals and computers. In some places they are still only by analog control.
I thought Russia was built on vodka not water
Very instructive ! Thanks. By the way, I remember seeing a short video on KZhead that shows how a mechanical computer caused the crash of a Russian rocket : kzhead.infoteXbDTN5Q2U
Where's the thumbnail computer? I'm hitting Do Not Recommend Channel.
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14:38-14:48 FLASHING LIGHT WARNING! 16:18-16:30 too There might be other instances of flashing lights that I missed because I watch these videos as I am doing work, but I looked up just in time to suffer pain as a result of those flashing patterns. So if you suffer from photosensitivites, epilepsy, or pain/discomfort as a result of flashing lights, do be wary of those seconds timestamped.