If this does not inspire you, you might be dead

[dequire]

“I’ve been against Macintosh company lately. They’re trying to get everyone to use iPads and when people use iPads they end up just using technology to consume things instead of making things. With a computer you can make things. You can code, you can make things and create things that have never before existed and do things that have never been done before.”

- Russell Kirsch, Inventor of the 1st computer

Worth a read. The virtues of Open Source do not go unnoticed here within Russell's words of wisdom on life and why Apple products are bad. I was pretty moved.
An Unexpected Ass Kicking

[SteveRiley]

Want to mess with your mind? Without the man in the photo, the photo of this man wouldn’t exist. *mind blown*

Boom! indeed. Thanks, Dequire, for posting this.

[capt-zero]

How to feel inadequate before your first cup of cofee.

[arochester]

I am puzzled . What is meant by the "world’s first internally programmable computer"?

Wikipedia says "The first program-controlled computer was invented by Konrad Zuse, who built the Z3, an electromechanical computing machine, in 1941. The first programmable electronic computer was the Colossus, built in 1943 by Tommy Flowers." Were they "externally" programmed - whatever that means...

[HalationEffect]

I am puzzled . What is meant by the "world’s first internally programmable computer"?

Wikipedia says "The first program-controlled computer was invented by Konrad Zuse, who built the Z3, an electromechanical computing machine, in 1941. The first programmable electronic computer was the Colossus, built in 1943 by Tommy Flowers." Were they "externally" programmed - whatever that means...

I suspect the term "internally programmable" refers to Stored-Program Architecture; i.e. running programs from internal RAM rather than from punched tape or whatever.

As for the "world's first" claim... Wikipedia's entry for Russell Kirsch says that he led the team that created America's first internally programmable computer, so the "world" part seems to be good, old-fashioned hyperbole.

[Snowhog]

'Earliest' precursor to the 'computer': Analytical Engine

[arochester]

I think that this whole area is full of contradictory information.

I watched an interesting TV program the other night about the Antikythera mechanism which said that was the earliest computer... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism

[HalationEffect]

Well, there are computers and then there are computers... The Antikythera mechanism was analog, and fixed-function (i.e. not Turing-complete). The design for Babbage's Analytical Engine, however, was digital and programmable (and was Turing-complete).

[claydoh]

The masses don't necessarily need or want or are able to make things. I don't make anything. Or do I?

The real question is what one can mean by make or create, and by what is meant by consume.


If he were to have come up to me and said these things, I think I would feel small and insignificant because I don't make anything, perhaps. Probably after the fact when I was alone to reflect on the event.

[eggbert]

Pretty cool, except the guy who wrote the blog post has the stench of "Internet Marketer" and this article is link bait if there ever was. So I will take it with a grain of salt. I do not doubt that is Mr. Kirsch, but who can say if that's how the story actually unfolded or if it was embellished to get some "link juice".

In any case, still pretty cool and I learned something