Part 1: The Coming of Computers

For the 200 years before you were born, everything was mechanical. Cogwheels, pulleys and pistons; knobs, switches and ropes; this was the world before digital.  


Charlie Chaplin operating a machine in the film “Modern Times” (1936)

And for the thousands of years before that, nothing existed that couldn’t be made by a carpenter, blacksmith or stone mason.


If you couldn’t make it, it didn't exist - blacksmith working red hot iron

galleon

Men’o’ war at sea

Even the fighting ships of the world’s navies were built by hand - with a little help from horses to pull carts and drive winches.


Next: An Analogue World



© Brian Smith 2015