sauntering-vaguely-downwards:

kittyknowsthings:

eilupt:

biggest-gaudiest-patronuses:

sauntering-vaguely-downwards:

roboticsappreciationsociety:

did-you-kno:

‘The Writer,’ 1 of 3 surviving automata from the 18th century, is a programmable boy that uses quill and ink to write any 40 letters of custom text. This 240-year-old automaton uses all 6,000 of its parts to create just enough pressure for fluid, elegant writing, and is thought by some to be the first computer. Source

This is truly a masterpiece of engineering from an early age. So amazing!

okay LOOK. I understand that on a purely mechanical and engineering level that this is an incredible piece but if scifi and fantasy media has taught me anything it’s that this motherfucker is haunted af and probably writes out gruesome deaths that mysteriously end up coming to pass thanks but NO THANKS BYE

computer science major here, i’m with haunted guy

Writer is actually one of a set language of three! The other ones play the organ:

And draw (it produces four different drawings):

Thank you for these images. Which just might give me nightmares.

This is the worst update I could have ever been updated with, thank you.