Source: University of Massachusetts Amherst Summary: A team of engineers has proven that their analog computing device, called a memristor, can complete complex, scientific computing tasks while bypassing the limitations of digital computing.
I have an issue with calling a memristor a 'computing device'. If you accept that, then so are capacitors and inductors!
Jeroen Belleman
I don't see the problem. Switches, relays, beads on a string can all be computing devices - and not all of them have 'memories'. Pots have been used as computing elements on the front panel of analogue computers for years, so what is the difference between them (set by hand) and a memristor (set electronically)?
...and yes, capacitors are definitely computing devices: Blumlein/Miller integrator.
Well, then so is any electronic component.
I'm old enough to have played with analog computers. They were fun to solve differential equations with. Not necessarily electronic, either. I've also done it with pneumatic stuff, bellows, nozzles and flapper valves, and with water levels in vertical pipes. Those were real fun too. You could *see* what was going on without instrumentation.
It's been quite a while since I last did that, though. These days, everything is electronic.
Jeroen Belleman
Whiffle tree? Used in player pianos and organs for converting binary pneumatic signals into analogue movement. (...and previous to that, for summing the tractive effort of a team of horses.)
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