Gallery: Low-Tech Computers From Prehistory to Today

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/07/low-tech-computers


"Jacquard's loom was the first to use pasteboard cards with holes punched in them to control the operation of a loom."

Jacquard's loom is the 4th picture. Anybody old enough to remember IBM punch card will instantly recognize the similarity.

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"Charles Babbage's Difference Engine No. 2 was a precursor of modern computers, capable of performing complex mathematical calculations with 31 digits of precision, all using Victorian-era rods, gears, levers and linkages."

William Gibson and Bruce Sterling wrote a novel called "The Difference Engine," which presented an alternate history in which Victorian England begins The Information Age, powered by steam-driven computers.

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