The weirdest computer ever made - made from assembled toys and fishing lines

Not every computer is made buttons and screens.

The strange "computer" was made by Danny Hillis and Brian Silverman, code X39.81 at the Computer History Museum.

Computer scientists Danny Hillis and Brian Silverman invented a computer that used each assembled toy and string. The invention is now on display at the Computer History Museum at View Mountain, near the Googleplex.

Daniel Hillis explains his device.

In a letter from Danny Hillis to Gordon Bell on May 21, 1981: "It consisted of 10,000 pieces of wood with a few more fishing lines and dumbbells, and was kept with copper keyhole covers. can play tic-tac-toe (also known as checkerboard) with the player who is the beginning. It never loses. The "game tree" is created by an LISP program running on a PDP- 10. The PDP-10 also calculates the connections of 140 ports (9 inputs / ports) .The ports are all powered by TTL (Tinkertoy Logic) A three-state logic is used instead. three possible states (XO-drums). The design uses simple combination logic. Any 6-year-old child can pair it with 500 assembling toy boxes and a PDP-10 ".

The PDP-10.

"I designed it with Brian Silverman in 1978. It was later acquired by the Arkansas tourism and park division and placed in the Mid-America museum. It can run but is easily damaged - the the fishing line always needed to be pulled in. The Mid-America Museum needed a more durable machine so we made a second one in 1980. Although it was less raw and more durable, I actually didn't think It's as impressive as the first machine. "