
UCLA’s 1948 Mechanical Computer [video] - yoloswagins
https://vimeo.com/70589461
======
Scaevolus
If you want more information on how you can do computation with mechanical
systems, try this video:

U.S. NAVY BASIC MECHANISMS OF FIRE CONTROL COMPUTERS MECHANICAL COMPUTER
INSTRUCTIONAL FILM 27794
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwf5mAlI7Ug](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwf5mAlI7Ug)

~~~
teddyh
All parts, without annoying timestamp at the bottom:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1i-dnAH9Y4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1i-dnAH9Y4)

------
Animats
The narration is too much.

That UCLA differential analyzer from 1947 was the peak of that technology.
Earlier ones in the US go back to 1928. Wikipedia says UCLA had three of
those. Probably for the Southern California aircraft industry.

That was near the end of the line for the pure mechanical analog computers.
Even the gun and missile guidance systems had electrical inputs and outputs.
1947 was late to be building that, but it was a mature technology and worked,
although, as shown, a huge pain to reprogram. Mechanical fire control systems
had one built-in problem to solve, so they didn't have to be set up as a parts
kit like this.

~~~
reaperducer
+1 for the narrator using the traditional "Los-an-guh-lus" pronunciation
instead of today's "Los-an-ju-less," popularized by The Brady Bunch and other
70's television programs.

I prefer "Los-an-ju-leez," as that was a common style among radio announcers.
But all three are officially correct, according to an LA Times article I read
years ago.

------
_edo
Very cool.

Also, if you're into this sort of thing here's the first in a seven video
series on a very different mechanical computer - Albert Michelson's Harmonic
Analyzer which does Fourier Analysis:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAsM30MAHLg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAsM30MAHLg)

------
4ntonius8lock
I love the tone of amazement and excitement in the video. The images were
amazing, but the tone really stuck with me.

I wonder what could be done to bring back that type of mass amazement and
excitement towards technology?

When I think of the future I'm blown away by the possibilities of CRISPER, 3d
printing, energy storage, block chains, driver-less cars, UBI, space
exploration and more. We are advancing so quickly on so many fronts, and yet
most people are indifferent or down right hostile toward it.

~~~
pjc50
Things started to go wrong and limitations started to appear. The 1970s saw
the US hit three big limitations: the failure of Vietnam, the oil crisis, and
the collapse of Iran. On the technology front, that's when the environmental
and social downsides of technology started to become really prominent. Three
Mile Island, CFCs, leaded petrol, and so on.

That's why all the 50s and 60s stuff is so breathlessly unconditionally
optimistic, and subsequent material has switched to skepticism.

People have become used to "new technology announcement === a few years later
we're going to hear about the terrible downside, while the originators lied
about all the safety risks". Driverless cars are absolutely in the middle of
that at the moment. Vaping is currently experiencing a safety backlash.

~~~
pfdietz
The big transition was that productivity growth in the US became very slow.

------
anonymousiam
Loved the V2 rocket launch at the end. Back in '48 we didn't have any rockets,
but we did have Wernher Von Braun.

~~~
my_first_acct
Which gives me an excuse to post a link of Tom Lehrer singing about Wernher
von Braun:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEJ9HrZq7Ro](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEJ9HrZq7Ro)
with the famous lines,

"'Once the rockets go up, who cares where they come down? That's not my
department,' says Wernher von Braun."

~~~
Teknoman117
Von Braun shot for the moon, but hit London instead.

------
Tistel
This analog computer reminds me of a great book: [https://www.amazon.ca/Mind-
Play-Shannon-Invented-Information...](https://www.amazon.ca/Mind-Play-Shannon-
Invented-Information/dp/147676669X)

that talks about a similar computer at MIT. I find all the pre transistor
computation really interesting. Shannon was doing some really early work on
what was, at the time, thought of as AI. Putting a mouse through a maze with
movable walls. All with just circuits, no CPU. The circuits were not fixed,
they had some branching based on phone switch tech (IIRC).

------
lordleft
Seeing it draw out a curve was pretty astonishing. What a cool slice of
history!

------
theOneTrueOld
The gender balance displayed in the video is admirable, but it is always
interesting to see how "white" films were from this era.

------
jimhefferon
Does anyone know the citation information? There were no credits at the end.

------
jjwiseman
I was really hoping we'd get to hear the computer operate at some point.

------
dukoid
Is that an A4 at the end? :)

~~~
anonymousiam
Yes:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-2_rocket](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-2_rocket)

------
GiulioS
We’ll be doing the same about today’s computers in 70 years time.

~~~
dungdev
yep

------
dungdev
I was really hoping we'd get to hear the computer operate

------
frostyj
will wear and tear of the mechanical parts affect accuracy?

~~~
jacquesm
Sure, just like a sloppy slide-rule or mechanical calipers or micrometer will
give you iffy readings. Whether the accuracy change is a material one depends
on what you are doing. Daisy chaining results would get you into meaningless
territory quite fast I would imagine.

~~~
analog31
Oddly enough, I have a circular slide rule where the printed scale is not
quite concentric with the sliding discs, so the thing has a built-in periodic
error.

~~~
jacquesm
Username checks out ;) That's neat, I've never had one of those but used a
linear one for years for quick order-of-magnitude answers. I got to use it
just as modern pocket calculators took off, the first ones were only four
function jobs and they were priced insanely high so slide rules were more
economic for the kind of problems I ran into in highschool. My maths book even
had a whole chapter on using them. Then; after a few years I got a Ti-57 and
that was that for the sliderule, that thing was programmable.

