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Author Topic: What if?  (Read 4629 times)

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Offline stopthegop

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Re: What if?
« on: June 12, 2007, 06:26:53 AM »
PC pushers have been incredibly adept over the years at using language to frustrate -and ultimately eradicate- competitors, including the Amiga.  To 99.999% of all people, when they make reference to a "computer" they are talking about a PC, and nothing else.  Most people would be suprised to learn that "computer" and "PC" are anything but synonomous and totally interchangeable.  The brainwashing is so effective that any word juxtoposed with "computer" other than "PC", such as "Amiga Computer" would be rejected by the public automatically.  

Ironically, a strong case could be made that "modern" PCs aren't even real computers, according to the definition of "computer" and by historical precedent.  The Oxford American dictionary defines a computer as a machine that stores and analyzes data fed into it and makes calculations using pulses of electricity. During the first half of the 20th century, the race to build the world's first  computer was hinged on a subtle but important question implied by that definition--the question of what separated a true computer from everything else.  

The disqualifier was whether or not a device was reliant on mechanical devices to work; Computers were not- that is, the storing, the analyzing, and the calculating could all be done electronically.  If it required mechanical parts to operate then, by definition, it was not a computer.    

So, can you run your Vista box without a mechanical hard drive?  My A1200 can.        :-P
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