wired.com— It's not all about circuits, silicon and stock options: mankind's been making technology since the dawn of time. Here's ten of the most wonderful gadgets
Aug 21, 2009View in Crawl 4
The Ark of the Covenant really shouldn't be on there since the only real description we have of it is from the Bible. Assuming historical accuracy, there is no way to hypothesize a technology to describe its working because of the very small number of examples in which it actually "did" something (a guy died when touching it, the priests carried it on poles, it resided within the innermost part of the temple as the seat of God and would kill anyone who entered without permission). From these examples, it could be that the Ark is some agent of death, it could be a holy place, or it could be that only flukes were reported in the historical record.Regardless, I'm always in awe when we look back at the inventions of the past - from the lunar lander to early (mechanical) computers to many of the chemical compounds that have been engineered (Greek fire). Amazing what they could do with rudimentary tools (hope my grandson says that about my generation).
If you disagree with calling the device a "computer" , simply state your reasons, I'm sure we would all be interested in hearing them. But to be gratuitously insulting simply leads one to suspect that you may have difficulty in properly expressing yourself or even that you may not really have anything substantive to say..
Before steampunk, there was clockworkpunk. The Turk was a cheat, but there were mechanical figures that are fantastically impressive. They made ones that could write, draw, play instruments, and do other amazing stuff. Not so surprising that Babbage looked to that technology.
"Early models place the Earth in the center—more modern ones replace it with the Sun. " o rly?...thanks for the reminder...i almost forgot...
radthanaelAug 21, 2009
Which history are we talking about? Oh, I see.THE History.
Closed AccountAug 22, 2009
The Ark of the Covenant really shouldn't be on there since the only real description we have of it is from the Bible. Assuming historical accuracy, there is no way to hypothesize a technology to describe its working because of the very small number of examples in which it actually "did" something (a guy died when touching it, the priests carried it on poles, it resided within the innermost part of the temple as the seat of God and would kill anyone who entered without permission). From these examples, it could be that the Ark is some agent of death, it could be a holy place, or it could be that only flukes were reported in the historical record.Regardless, I'm always in awe when we look back at the inventions of the past - from the lunar lander to early (mechanical) computers to many of the chemical compounds that have been engineered (Greek fire). Amazing what they could do with rudimentary tools (hope my grandson says that about my generation).
cyanolycaAug 22, 2009
If you disagree with calling the device a "computer" , simply state your reasons, I'm sure we would all be interested in hearing them. But to be gratuitously insulting simply leads one to suspect that you may have difficulty in properly expressing yourself or even that you may not really have anything substantive to say..
mujokanAug 22, 2009
Before steampunk, there was clockworkpunk. The Turk was a cheat, but there were mechanical figures that are fantastically impressive. They made ones that could write, draw, play instruments, and do other amazing stuff. Not so surprising that Babbage looked to that technology.
Closed AccountAug 22, 2009
You're forgetting a certain movie that demonstrates its bitch-slappedness... :)
shamosAug 22, 2009
where's the 1st gen ipod?
popninetyAug 23, 2009
"Early models place the Earth in the center—more modern ones replace it with the Sun. " o rly?...thanks for the reminder...i almost forgot...
krisstrongAug 24, 2009
Yeah...you tell him!