On Wed, Jan 23, 2008 at 10:54:04AM -0800, Ralph Shumaker wrote:
Are there general purpose analog computers? Can they run programs in the sense that digital computers can?
I'm not aware of any. The idea of a stored program is more of a digital concept. Analog computers are typically programmed by changing their configuration. I think the most familiar analog computer to most people would be a pre-1990's automatic transmission valve body. This functionality has largely been passed off to a computer that can get a lot more inputs from the engine and other places. Still, the old transmissions worked amazingly well. The mechanic who rebuilt my 300TD transmission was an amazing artisan. He understood the mechanisms well enough to even make changes in the performance. Dave -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-lpsg
