Stonehenge, and a multitude of other standing stones and pyramids and slots and Mayan calendars are examples of computers specialized for time, e.g. seasonal and astronomical calculations.
I could chip an abacus out of flint in a few days, if you'd spot me wood for the shafts. Longer if I had to chip the shafts out of flint too.
It's possible, though the work of several lifetimes, to chip a Babbage Engine out of flint. Though I think obsidian would probably be better, in terms of taking a polish necessary for precision machining.
Other processor architectures could be implemented in macro-scale silicon. A classic Turing machine "tape" could be implemented as pits on a long stone slab that actuate smooth pebbles constrained in a frame over the "tape".
Sand in an hourglass, come to think of it, represents macro-scale silicon processing.
This is why I never argue political economics with you, Tom. You just can't think outside the corporate libertarian box.
Flame » in reply to Yep. A whole lot of gobbledygook.
Silicon-based macroprocessors
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- Corporate Libertarianism and the betrayal of Adam Smith
- "planned and managed by the world’s largest corporations to maximize financial returns to top managers"
- I constantly link to people who encapsulate my opinions better than I sometimes can.
- Another chapter from the same book, I see.
- You agree with the bulleted points? Tell me you're just pulling my chain.
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- Okay, you are pulling my chain.
- Re: You agree with the bulleted points? Tell me you're just pulling my chain.
- Re: You agree with the bulleted points? Tell me you're just pulling my chain.
- You agree with the bulleted points? Tell me you're just pulling my chain.
- Another chapter from the same book, I see.
