Post AkUZbV4Pm620xvNKPg by pdkoenig@mstdn.social
(DIR) More posts by pdkoenig@mstdn.social
(DIR) Post #AkUBqulU7w1k6GL2I4 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-31T09:53:28Z
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Like many foundational concepts the definition of what is a "computer" can get a little murky or entirely too technical with little in between. My current favorite lay-definition is "A computer is a machine that can run various computer programs." or "A machine that can be programed."It's a little circular but I like it better than definitions that are centered on "calculation." What is your "go to" definition?
(DIR) Post #AkUCGXfkbgb20csOSe by nazokiyoubinbou@urusai.social
2024-07-31T09:58:04Z
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@futurebird I don't know if I have a definitive definition, but for me it has to specifically be complex. A handheld calculator is not a computer (though programmable graphing calculators push the line a bit.) A SBC like the Raspberry Pi (mainline or Zero, not RP2040) is (albeit closer to embedded than something like a desktop.)I guess my rule is something to the effect of it has to be complex enough to run real operating systems, have virtually anything compiled to run on it (even if slowly in some cases,) etc.A bit vague I know.
(DIR) Post #AkUD8G2aNRUQxlAeNE by martin_piper@mastodon.social
2024-07-31T10:07:47Z
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@futurebird my old ZX81 with 1KB of memory is a computer.
(DIR) Post #AkUDpGbABBEt91quP2 by risa_spirelli@nerdculture.de
2024-07-31T10:15:34Z
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@futurebird I guess I would say turing-completeness ist the only requirement but of cause that's rather technical. maybe a machine that can run arbitrary algorithms would be a good choice but then it would be necessary to explain the concept of algorithms.
(DIR) Post #AkUEICOms9IqW9rMBM by lulu@hachyderm.io
2024-07-31T10:20:42Z
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@futurebird It's kind of the same thing if we agree that programs are an arbitrary predefined sets of calculations and that computers can run any one of those that's provided by the user.
(DIR) Post #AkUFRRcJlDd8HDA20O by Hedgewizard@beige.party
2024-07-31T10:33:40Z
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@futurebird Any machine that could theoretically issue instructions that a printer could refuse to execute.
(DIR) Post #AkUFTZJm6FEIjvV5Qe by seawall@mastodon.nz
2024-07-31T10:33:42Z
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@futurebird I asked my programmer husband, he decided to be cheeky with his answer
(DIR) Post #AkUIW5EEj9bY9OnhUu by jannem@fosstodon.org
2024-07-31T11:07:25Z
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@futurebird To me, any created device that is Turing complete. I blame my education for that.
(DIR) Post #AkUIblx5JIdC6QUUGu by Wharrrrrrgarbl@an.errant.cloud
2024-07-31T11:07:34Z
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@futurebird a computer is vaguely rectangular, connected to or incorporates a monitor and keyboard, and could, in principle if not necessarily in practice, run both a calculator and a video game (not necessarily at the same time).
(DIR) Post #AkUNAvSGN1RdWl5lc8 by JamesWidman@mastodon.social
2024-07-31T12:00:16Z
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@futurebird maybe: > a machine that follows a list of instructions, where each instruction tells the machine to do something very limited, like:- "add these two numbers"- "find out whether a number is less than another number" (a comparison instr)- "based on what we found out after we completed a comparison instruction, if the first number was less than the second, then make it so that the next instruction will be the one that is two instructions before this one" (a jump instr)
(DIR) Post #AkUNyl9ewKaU3s9XcG by benfulton@urbanists.social
2024-07-31T12:09:16Z
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@futurebird What's your interest in defining it, out of curiosity?
(DIR) Post #AkUOJhvO92107mSzDc by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-31T12:13:07Z
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@benfulton I just wonder "is this a computer" all the time. And it can change the answer to questions such as "when was the first computer invented?"
(DIR) Post #AkUQtxYDivHQvE2mZM by lePetomaneAncien@fosstodon.org
2024-07-31T12:42:02Z
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@futurebird Favorite definition? Benign Overlord
(DIR) Post #AkUZbV4Pm620xvNKPg by pdkoenig@mstdn.social
2024-07-31T14:19:34Z
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@futurebird My brain stays stuck on the definition of computer from an early 20th century dictionary: A person, usually female, who performs computations, often with the help of a mechanical device.
(DIR) Post #AkUpKazS6rxXfa114i by australopithecus@mastodon.social
2024-07-31T17:15:47Z
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@futurebird I might go with something like "a series of logic gates," but idk how useful that is for most people.
(DIR) Post #AkVcD4bszm3gyI2F0q by linebyline@bytetower.social
2024-08-01T02:23:30Z
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@futurebird Insert "device for displaying pictures of cats" joke here.I have some IT experience but no theoretical CS background, but to attempt to fart out an answer anyway: An electronic and/or mechanical contraption ("doohickey" would also work) for processing input information and outputting the result of that process.I feel like processing input/information is important; defining it just as following a series of steps would arguably include even a music box.
(DIR) Post #AkXzKAS2MZ8cNOhSqm by stormcauldron@mas.to
2024-08-02T05:51:54Z
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@futurebird machine that runs cyclical loops that can modify themselves through self reference or user inputs.Yes that means that engines are also computers, shut up they are. Simple engines do mechanical computations all the time they just output force instead of numbers.