Everyone is going to die!!!!

[Dirty Big Yoke]

analogue computers still rock

It's not analogue if it's done physically, just saying - an analogue is an imitation or representation of the "real thing", not the actual real thing

This is an analogue computer:


 

[Conspiracy Nut]

that's a shit one.

https://www.hpcwire.com/2018/02/12/optalysys-optical-co-processor-hits-milestone-genesys-project/#foobox-1/0/Optalysys-System.png

[Dirty Big Yoke]

That's a digital processor using optics to send/receive data, rather than electricity. It's using a similar method to fibre optics. The pulses of light are still representing 1s and 0s as you'd expect from a digital computer.

An analogue computer is not digital in any way. Everything is discreet voltages which can be varied, not 1s and 0s. A calculation is done by physically patching it to manipulate voltages in varying ways eg. adding 2v and 2v gives 4v, which is basic arithmetic.

A "real" computer is literally just a person counting manually, maybe using a few tools in the process to aid in the calculation. In fact, a "computer" was a legit job position back in the 50s - literally paid to manually do calculations.

You see the difference, right?

[Conspiracy Nut]

I don't think you know what you're talking about. I was correct that a slide rule is an analogue computer. And what I posted is an analogue computer. And what you posted is an analogue computer. They are all analogue computers and you are arguing semantics.

[odeon]

analogue computers still rock

It's not analogue if it's done physically

But it is. It's what an analogue computer is.

[Dirty Big Yoke]

analogue computers still rock

It's not analogue if it's done physically

But it is. It's what an analogue computer is.

I didn't realise he was referring to a slide rule, which is an analogue computer.

If you are doing it physically eg. manually counting in your head, it's not an analogue since you're actually doing it. An analogue is something replicating that, like a mechanical calculator, abacus, analogue computer doing it via voltages, or a slide rule. Digital computers technically are analogue in this sense, but we often differentiate since the methods of calculation digital computers do are not analogous to how humans do it.

[Dirty Big Yoke]

I don't think you know what you're talking about. I was correct that a slide rule is an analogue computer. And what I posted is an analogue computer. And what you posted is an analogue computer. They are all analogue computers and you are arguing semantics.

What you posted sends 1s and 0s by pulses of light. It's not analogue.

[Conspiracy Nut]

its not just an optical delay line, it runs FFTs. which ties into what I said about how the frequency domain rules everything and you need to take acid to understand this.

[Dirty Big Yoke]

If it's done via 1s and 0s, it's not analogue. It even talks about data packets.

[Conspiracy Nut]

It's done using light waves passing through LCD screens, with an analogue voltage applied, to create a specific transform, which is rapidly digitised on a CCD sensor. For running massive amounts of FFT calculations in parallel.

[Dirty Big Yoke]

The light waves are literally sent as packets though, to represent 1s and 0s. Even the CCDs need an analogue to digital conversion to get the actual data retrieved.

[Conspiracy Nut]

they have to be sent as packets because all classical computers are clocked.

[Dirty Big Yoke]

Also, I mentioned fibre optics because they also use fourier transforms to send data. A lot of things do, even phone lines for broadband internet connections. 

[Dirty Big Yoke]

they have to be sent as packets because all classical computers are clocked.

More proof it's digital lol

[Conspiracy Nut]

If you were an eCommerce site provider that user quantum computers to solve the sales optimisation problem, you would ultimately still have to conform to the packetised HTTP protocol in order to communicate with your customers.

Does that mean you are not running a quantum computer anymore?