13 comments

  • PopAlongKid 40 minutes ago
    There is an enthusiast discussion group at

    https://groups.io/g/DIGI-COMP/topics

  • jedimastert 17 hours ago
    It's cool to see Chris Staecker's channel getting some love, he brings a a kind of joy I miss from the old internet. I know it's still around, but it certainly feels more difficult to find and suppressed in many ways.
    • professoretc 11 hours ago
      I think the algorithm recommended Chris to me because of his topology videos, and from there I watched all his "old computing devices" stuff. Something about the Boston accent, the dry humor, and the occasional audio jump-cut make his stuff quite funny.
  • andrehacker 21 hours ago
    Reproductions are still produced, see the wikipedia page.
  • disillusioned1 14 hours ago
    I still have my Digi-Comp I, as well as Dr. Nim and Think-a-Dot.
  • contingencies 16 hours ago
    3D print your own: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1477209

    This reminds me, a CNC wire bender is on my list.

  • redretrat 16 hours ago
    I bought one of these from Edmund Scientific when I was a kid. I wasn't able to figure out how it worked. I've thought about it occasionally over the years. Enjoyed the video
  • NetMageSCW 20 hours ago
    I had a CARDIAC when I was young.
  • drfuchs 20 hours ago
    Wait til you see the DigiComp II! It has flip-flops driven by marbles and gravity. Truly astounding.
    • WalterBright 13 hours ago
      I learned binary computing from that machine.
    • a1o 13 hours ago
      It looks amazing! Thanks for mentioning it!
  • leephillips 19 hours ago
    I had one! One of my favorite possessions in elementary school. It came with a nice booklet introducing the theory. Because I studied that booklet, I was probably the only brat in my 2nd grade who knew about number bases. I entertained myself by converting decimal numbers into binary.
  • rramadass 7 hours ago
    Details on how it works and similarity to FPGA at "Retrocmp" site; DIGI-COMP I - https://retrocmp.com/articles/digi-comp-1
    • aap_ 5 hours ago
      Jörg's automation of the machine is truly fun :) The mechanics of the machine are really clunky and giving it an external clock made it function so much more smoothly iirc.
  • qsera 14 hours ago
    Wow. didn't know mechanical computers could be so simple.
  • rustcleaner 21 hours ago
    Really cool! Will we ever construct Babbage's Analytical Engine?
  • songhonglei1985 11 hours ago
    [flagged]