Talking to a machine.
Contributor(s): McNaught-Davis, Ian.
Material type:
BookDescription: Videocassette (VHS)(ca. 25 min.) : sd., col. 1/2 in.Subject(s): Computer programs | Programming (Electronic computers)
| Item type | Current location | Home library | Collection | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matheson Library | Matheson Library | AV | 004 COM (Browse shelf) | 127 | 034571 |
Fifty years ago, steam organs and agricultural machines were in common everyday use. Today, they're just beautifully preserved collector's items. Just as they made people redundant they, in their turn, were replaced. But even so, outdated as they are we can still see them working in the same principles on which much of today's computer technology is based. They're not really steam organs at all- it was the steam engine which drove the generator which powered the pump which produced the air which made the music. Provided you knew how to "program" it, the steam organ could churn out music twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, in any style or tune you wanted. The secret was a pattern of holes in a piece of cardboard and it's the placing of these holes in their exact position that ensured the organ played a certain piece and not the national anthem.
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