A very fascinating project, one I would never have the perseverance to see through. Thanks for posting it.
It does, however, end with the machine being "not quite finished" in 2011, can anyone find an update?
It does, however, end with the machine being "not quite finished" in 2011, can anyone find an update?
I came across his work again as I was putting together a relay based oscillator this weekend [1]. I wonder if I have enough relays to put together a half adder. :)
[1] http://41j.com/blog/2014/12/electromechanical-oscillator/
It's interesting that the wikipedia pages on the Manchester Baby, ENIAC, and Z3. All refer to them as "first computers" by one definition or another. I guess the ones you end up hearing about are to a degree culturally determined.
I assumed something similar might have been developed in Japan. And it seems they also developed a relay based computer in 1952 which I found interesting:
The thing with the first computer is similar with cars. France has a very different definition of what was the first car than germany - distinguishing between the first car and the first "modern" car - the same will probably be true for the USA and UK.
The tragedy is that Zuse tried to patent a lot of his inventions. His submissions were lost during the war, and when he resubmitted them after the war, his applications were struck down due to American and British prior art.