On Tue, 7 Nov 2000, Mark Green wrote:
> Depends. In the 1940s and 1950s they were used in both analogue
> and digital computers. After the early 1960s, tubes were replaced
> by transistors in digital computers (at least in North America), but
> they were still used in analogue computers. In terms of pure numbers,
> analogue computers greatly out numbered digital computers until some
> point in the 1960s. In the simulation area, digital computers didn't
> become cost effective for many applications until around 1970, particularly
> those requiring real-time. So, for early computers the use of tubes
> wasn't a good indication of whether the computer was analogue or
> digital.
The distinction between an analog computer and a digital computer is not
in what components they use but rather the method by which they "compute".
Analog computing is a completely different paradigm.
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
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Received on Tue Nov 07 2000 - 17:23:44 GMT