On 19/04/2011 1:05 AM, Brooklyn1 wrote:
> On Mon, 18 Apr 2011 03:08:31 +0000 (UTC), Nad R
> > wrote:
>
>> Brooklyn1<Gravesend1> wrote:
>>> On Mon, 18 Apr 2011 01:54:25 +0000 (UTC), Nad R
>>> > wrote:
>>>
>>>> Dave > wrote:
>>>>> On 17/04/2011 5:14 PM, Nad R wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Starting in the Late seventies, TRS-80 Model 1, 4k ram, cassette storage.
>>>>>> Later Apple IIe, Apple IIc, Power Mac 7100/66, Power Book G4 and an iPad
>>>>>> model 1.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> My favorite was the Power Mac 7100/66 was loaded and cost $5,000 for
>>>>>> hardware alone. It served me well for ten years before the operating system
>>>>>> truly became obsolete.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Right now, I love this little portable iPad that is now my favorite.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> My first computer was a Coco II from Radio Shack. It didn't take long to
>>>>> realize how useless Radio Shack is. I ended up getting an XT. I can't
>>>>> believe the prices I paid for that machine and accessories, but I sure am
>>>>> glad that prices have plummeted. I paid less for this laptop than I did
>>>>> for a 20 meg hard drive for that computer.
>>>>
>>>> I enjoyed the TRS-80, I had fun Programing that simple little machine. I
>>>> had dozens of games that others wrote and some I wrote. I learned allot
>>>> about computer Programing in those early years.
>>>
>>> Does a slide rule count?
>>
>> Could be a calculator not a computer. I would say no. I did own a slide
>> rule for about two years.
>
> A calculator IS a computer. The very first electronic computer(s) did
> only mathematical calculations, as did all previous mechanical
> calculators including cash registers... today's most modern, most
> powerful scientific computers only calculate numbers. The early
> mechanical adding machines used by bookkeeppers/accountants were
> called calculators. A slide rule is definitely a computer, as is an
> abacus... I do have a small cheapo abacus somewhere, forgot about
> that. Throughout history there have been all manner of counting
> devices, variously sized pebbles, beads on strings, even beans... you
> have herd the term "bean counter". An ordinary mechanical weighing
> scale is a computer. There was no internet until Al Gore came along.

A calculator can be considered a computer only if it is programmable.
It's the programmable aspect that takes the computer to a higher level
than the simpler calculators

Krypsis