
The Writer Automaton, Switzerland [video] - frr149
http://www.chonday.com/Videos/the-writer-automaton
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m_mueller
1770ies. Wow. That's still in the so-called 'Ancien Regime', before Napoleon
took Switzerland for a few years. Switzerland was a relatively loose
confederacy back then, a bunch of city states, small republics and subject
territories. Very poor, except maybe for the watchmakers in Neuchatel. Even
getting the supplies for such a machine must have been tough back then. All
the more impressive.

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wozniacki
Often when one of these ingenuously conceived & impeccably crafted devices is
unearthed [1], one wonders about not only the provenance, the period and the
relative brilliance of such contraptions but also the initial impetus for the
actual making of the device.

One cannot help themselves from wondering

    
    
      * what prevailing mores - and pressures - led to the devising 
       of such relatively complex gadgets. 
      * what the availability of skilled labor was in those times
      * how expensive or cheap such (bonded ?) labor was
      * how freely or sparsely knowledge was shared in those times
      * how guilds & ancestral orders controlled the dissemination 
      of such knowledge & trade-craft, often limiting it to very few
      trusted members outside the immediate family or clan, after
      decades of indentured internship and servitude.
      * what other existential pressures the inventor faced in the 
      making of the contraption Eg. Sedition laws, Canon law etc.
    

I tend to think that most of the inventors of these devices made them under
_some_ form of extreme duress or state sanction - _not very unlike_ say the
much-debated working conditions that prevailed during the construction of the
Pyramids [2].

I am somehow inclined to believe that they did not enjoy the same somewhat
lofty treatment bestowed on painters, architects and sculptors.

This is semi-informed speculation.

I'd love to read more on the topic from scholarly sources.

[1] The Antikythera Mechanism

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpLcnAIpVRA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpLcnAIpVRA)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eUibFQKJqI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eUibFQKJqI)

[2] Who Built the Pyramids?

[http://harvardmagazine.com/2003/07/who-built-the-pyramids-
ht...](http://harvardmagazine.com/2003/07/who-built-the-pyramids-html)

Edit: formatting

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JoeAltmaier
Yes its strange to think, under guild systems of suspicion and secrecy, that
anything like these amazing contrivances could be designed and built. Were
these Newton-grade geniuses? Skilled mechanics? Nerds of another age?

Just saw a so-so documentary on glass, which included the insight that Venice
has had glass guilds for 500 years. During the whole time they've flourished
under a system of knowledge sharing, where the old masters taught anyone (in
the guild) who would listen, their techniques. Made Venice an amazing place,
for glassmaking and lensmaking.

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serialsurfer
There are Automatons on display at the Museum of Art and History in Neuchâtel,
Switzerland. Totally worth a visit.

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AnonJ
We also have one in China, in the Forbidden City. It was a present by certain
western diplomat in 1700s/1800s. I'm pretty sure this kind of thing was
actually quite popular back at that time.

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jacko0
Is that a wind-up?

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nzp
Really amazing. Previous discussion on HN
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6678947](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6678947)

