The Digi-Comp I was a functioning, mechanical digital
computer sold in kit form. It was originally manufactured from
polystyrene parts by
E.S.R., Inc. E.S.R., Inc. was an American manufacturer of educational toys during the 1960s. The company’s founders included William H. Duerig and Irving J. Lieberman, both involved in missile research at Kearfott Guidance in New Jersey, and C. David Hogan, an ...
starting in 1963 and sold as an educational toy for US$4.99.
A successor, the
Digi-Comp II
The Digi-Comp II was a toy computer invented by John "Jack" Thomas Godfrey (1924–2009) in 1965 and manufactured by E.S.R., Inc. in the late 1960s that used marbles rolling down a ramp to perform basic calculations. A two-level masonite platfo ...
, was not programmable, but in effect a visible calculator. A two-level masonite platform with guides served as the medium for a supply of marbles that rolled down an inclined plane, moving plastic cams as they fell.
Operation
In essence, the Digi-Comp I contained three mechanical
flip-flops
Flip-flops are a type of light sandal, typically worn as a form of casual footwear. They consist of a flat sole held loosely on the foot by a Y-shaped strap known as a toe thong that passes between the first and second toes and around both side ...
, providing an ability to connect them together in a programmable way using thin vertical wires that are either pushed, or blocked from moving, by a number of cylindrical pegs. The whole arrangement was 'clocked' by moving a lever back and forth. Different configurations of these cylinders caused the Digi-Comp to compute different
boolean logic operations. With a three binary digit (3-bit) readout of the state of the flip-flops, it could be programmed to demonstrate binary logic, to perform various operations such as addition and subtraction, and to play some simple logic games such as
Nim.
Reproductions
The Digi-Comp I version 2.0 has been made available by Minds-On Toys since 2005 as a relatively inexpensive
binder's board
Paperboard is a thick paper-based material. While there is no rigid differentiation between paper and paperboard, paperboard is generally thicker (usually over 0.30 mm, 0.012 in, or 12 points) than paper and has certain superior attribute ...
version of the original Digi-Comp with a much enhanced instruction manual.
See also
*
Dr. Nim - game based on the computer
*
Geniac
Geniac was an educational toy billed as a " computer" designed and marketed by Edmund Berkeley, with Oliver Garfield from 1955 to 1958, but with Garfield continuing without Berkeley through the 1960s. The name stood for "Genius Almost-automatic C ...
*
WDR paper computer
The WDR paper computer or Know-how Computer is an educational model of a computer consisting only of a pen, a sheet of paper, and individual matches in the most simple case. This allows anyone interested to learn how to program without having a ...
*
CARDboard Illustrative Aid to Computation
*
Turing Tumble
''Turing Tumble'' is a game and demonstration of logic gates via mechanical computer. Named after Alan Turing, the game itself could (abstractly) duplicate the processes of any computer whatsoever if the game field itself were sufficiently large. ...
, a 2019 mechanical computer inspired by it
*
Robert C. Martin
Robert Cecil Martin (born 5 December 1952), colloquially called "Uncle Bob", is an American software engineer, instructor, and best-selling author. He is most recognized for developing many software design principles and for being a founder of t ...
, who credits playing with this toy at the age of 12 as being what made him decide to become a programmer for the rest of his life.
*
Little man computer
References
External links
The Old Computer Museum- Collection of old analog, digital and mechanical computers
Friends of Digi-Comp- Discussion of this toy. Images, links, manuals and programming information
- Online vendor of working replica kit; historical details
Digi-Comp I Emulator- Emulator for the original Digi-Comp I written in JavaScript
Mechanical computers
Educational toys
Products introduced in 1963
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