>>>>> if you're interested in who influenced the computer industry more, it
would be Watson. Babbage's work wasn't even known to most of the 20th century
computer pioneers.
Well, it's just a matter of lineage. Watson himself was influenced by Babbage.
So if a wealthy collector of general-purpose science stuff is told by
Christie's that "this is the seminal paper of the guy who influenced the
founder of IBM" then I think they would see the value of it.
Also: >>>> Babbage's work wasn't even known to most of the 20th century
computer pioneers
That's interesting; is it documented anywhere?
--- Eric Smith <eric_at_brouhaha.com> wrote:
> Paul wrote:
> > I suspect Babbage is more widely known that Watson, as well he should
> > be. Watson was a good salesman and manager, but so what, there are
> > plenty of those around.
>
> They did different things, sure. But if you're interested in who
> influenced the computer industry more, it would be Watson. Babbage's
> work wasn't even known to most of the 20th century computer pioneers.
>
> Eric
>
>
=====
Evan's personal homepage: www.snarc.net
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Received on Thu Feb 17 2005 - 14:27:17 GMT