There's another kind of "lost" computer that many don't know about. Actually, I hesitate to call it a computer, as it didn't compute anything, and none of the actual machines had anything like a conditional branch operation that I am aware of...
...they're called "reproducing pianos" (also "reproducing player pianos" and "reproducers"). Not many were manufactured, due to their complexity, need for a lot of maintenance, and sheer cost.
Basically, they were a kind of player piano that strived to reproduce the actual mechanics and technique of the person who "recorded" the original paper roll. They did this by having additional tracks which handled certain nuances of the player and such, such that when the roll was played back, the piano could play in the same manner.
These player pianos were much more mechanically sophisticated than regular player pianos, and those extra tracks acted like a form of control structure for the notes being played. I believe that on some of the models meant for public performances, you could select the song (and it would "wind" itself to the song, sensing when it had located the piece), and I think they also had an auto-rewind function - but that was about the limit of their operations.
I've always thought of a CPU - in it's simplest form - as nothing more than a sophisticated and fast "player piano", with memory being the roll, the word at an address being the holes in the roll at a certain point, and the CPU being that which controlled the operations and were instructed by those same holes. This in fact was actually implemented in some early electronic computers (known as "drum-based" computers).
The history of computers and computation is a fascinatingly deep and varied field of study; I encourage everyone to delve into it a bit.
...they're called "reproducing pianos" (also "reproducing player pianos" and "reproducers"). Not many were manufactured, due to their complexity, need for a lot of maintenance, and sheer cost.
Basically, they were a kind of player piano that strived to reproduce the actual mechanics and technique of the person who "recorded" the original paper roll. They did this by having additional tracks which handled certain nuances of the player and such, such that when the roll was played back, the piano could play in the same manner.
These player pianos were much more mechanically sophisticated than regular player pianos, and those extra tracks acted like a form of control structure for the notes being played. I believe that on some of the models meant for public performances, you could select the song (and it would "wind" itself to the song, sensing when it had located the piece), and I think they also had an auto-rewind function - but that was about the limit of their operations.
I've always thought of a CPU - in it's simplest form - as nothing more than a sophisticated and fast "player piano", with memory being the roll, the word at an address being the holes in the roll at a certain point, and the CPU being that which controlled the operations and were instructed by those same holes. This in fact was actually implemented in some early electronic computers (known as "drum-based" computers).
The history of computers and computation is a fascinatingly deep and varied field of study; I encourage everyone to delve into it a bit.