Dead
Media | 0.01-02.0 | 02.1-04.0
| 04.1-06.0 | 06.1-08.0 |
08.1-10.0 | 10.1-12.0 |
Subject: Dead Media Working Note 03.0
Dead Medium: C. X. Thomas de Colmar's Arithmometer
From: boneill_AT_allinux1.alliance.net (Bradley O'Neill)
Source: A History Of Computing Technology by Michael R.
Williams;
Prentice-Hall, 1985. LC#QA71.W66 1985
(((I don't believe this qualifies as an outright *medium*,
but the Arithmometer was a commercial mainstay of 19th
century calculation. Arithmometers were in fact produced
up to World War I. This indicates the ever-increasing
public demand for calculating machines during the early
industrial era.)))
page 150-151
THOMAS ARITHMOMETER: The first commercially produced
calculating machine, produced by Charles Xavier Thomas de
Colmar in France. Based on Leibniz's calculating machine,
the device utilized stepped drum gears for calculation.
However, the major innovation was to reverse the operating
function in the result registers (up to sixteen digits),
allowing for reliable and stable calculation over extended
periods of time without gear re-alignment.
The machine took up an entire desk and required two
people to carry it. It spurred on many rivals, eventually
leading to quite sophisticated calculating machines that
overcame the pitfalls of the stepped-drum design. Thomas
received France's Chevalier of the Legion of Honor for the
product.
Brad
Dead
Media | 0.01-02.0 | 02.1-04.0
| 04.1-06.0 | 06.1-08.0 |
08.1-10.0 | 10.1-12.0 |