I built one in redstone in Minecraft. Did I win an internet?
High school grad builds 8-bit computer from scratch
51–60 of 74 posts
Re: High school grad builds 8-bit computer from scratch
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the GP comments wants to say that just soldering the TTL chips w.r.t somebody else's design is not that impressive. I too think so, I have not checked but if I found that the has designed the whole processor (custom op-codes and a whole new implementation of ALU) I would be much more impressed.
According to the website he "built and designed" the computer which I assume includes the instruction set, assembler, etc. I can't find any evidence to the contrary. It's definitely cool -- not groundbreaking, because after all, people used to do this by hand :) It's a bit like rebuilding classic cars. Its fun to touch the hardware and imagine what Woz may have been thinking when he designed the Apple I 30+ years ago…
This is Jack Eisenmann's website for the Duo Adept, which includes further project details:
Re: High school grad builds 8-bit computer from scratch
#53By some definition of "scratch", we've also built 8-bit computers from scratch in my Electronics class. My respect for this student's accomplishment is proportional to how much of the processor he has designed and built himself; opcode design and management is a highly nontrivial task. On the other hand, if he has built the processor from pre-existing schematics, the accomplishment simply shows a steady soldering han…
I think you guys should look a little closer before writing him off.
He pumped the OS in one bit at a time using DIP switches, wrote his own hex editor, and then wrote his own assembler and emulator, in javascript/canvas: http://web.mac.com/teisenmann/iWeb/adeptpage/adept_compiler....
The OS code is here: http://web.mac.com/teisenmann/iWeb/adeptpage/DUO_OS.txt
Run it through the emulator, it works.
Definitely not just a bit of light soldering...
Re: High school grad builds 8-bit computer from scratch
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
Agreed, save the skipping college part. The debt incurred from college was paid off more than a decade ago. The gain from my education opened my mind and doors of opportunity. Even if you are smart, sometimes those doors will stay shut.
I'd like to know (for my own education), what were the benefits to you of going to college?
Making so much money that the debt wasn't really a big deal...and knowing that finding more jobs that pay the same (or more) isn't really a big deal...not hitting a glass ceiling every couple years because I wanted to enter positions that required a B.S. and then an M.S., etc. etc. etc.
Re: High school grad builds 8-bit computer from scratch
#55Connecting this with the article about the person who smelted his own sword, I wonder if it's possible for one person to single-handedly build a computer starting from Stone Age technology and raw materials?
I remember a "joke" mathematical recreation in Scientific American years ago (decades ago), where they describe a computer found in the jungle, operating with levers and ropes.
Re: High school grad builds 8-bit computer from scratch
#56Is it bad if I have mixed feelings about this? With such skills, why not invent something new?
I think if I were to build some stuff from scratch, maybe I would try to build a gene assembler (whatever they called that thing, where you can feed a gene sequence into it and it assembles a real gene from it). That's something you can't buy in every supermarket yet.
Re: High school grad builds 8-bit computer from scratch
#57By some definition of "scratch", we've also built 8-bit computers from scratch in my Electronics class. My respect for this student's accomplishment is proportional to how much of the processor he has designed and built himself; opcode design and management is a highly nontrivial task. On the other hand, if he has built the processor from pre-existing schematics, the accomplishment simply shows a steady soldering han…
Did you watch the video? This is inspiring to me on many levels. This probably earned him a salaried job at essentially any place he wants to work. Or at the very least an internship. I hope he considers skipping college. There's no reason for him to be driven into ~$50k worth of debt, and I've certainly been happy with my decision not to go.
College is a knife sharpener. If your knife was already sharp or you figured how to sharpen it on your own and how to convince other people of this fact, you don't need it.
Most people need it, because they can't do all this on their own. Furthermore, some of them have such good steel in their knife, that sharpening will be a great leap, and it would have been a waste, in some sense, to miss it. The tragedy is that we convinced everyone that they NEED the sharpening to have a good life, even if they have tin knives, as if a sharp knife is the only tool.
Re: High school grad builds 8-bit computer from scratch
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the GP comments wants to say that just soldering the TTL chips w.r.t somebody else's design is not that impressive. I too think so, I have not checked but if I found that the has designed the whole processor (custom op-codes and a whole new implementation of ALU) I would be much more impressed.
According to the website he "built and designed" the computer which I assume includes the instruction set, assembler, etc. I can't find any evidence to the contrary. It's definitely cool -- not groundbreaking, because after all, people used to do this by hand :) It's a bit like rebuilding classic cars. Its fun to touch the hardware and imagine what Woz may have been thinking when he designed the Apple I 30+ years ago…
It's not quite like rebuilding a classic car. It's more like a high schooler using the school workshop to fabricate car parts and building a car from his own blueprints. Sure, he may have purchased the speedometer and tires, but that doesn't really diminish the accomplishment.
Hopefully he will go on to work on a replacement for computer—car analogies.
Re: High school grad builds 8-bit computer from scratch
#59Is it bad if I have mixed feelings about this? With such skills, why not invent something new? I think if I were to build some stuff from scratch, maybe I would try to build a gene assembler (whatever they called that thing, where you can feed a gene sequence into it and it assembles a real gene from it). That's something you can't buy in every supermarket yet.
You have to start somewhere, don't you think? He can't just start at the top and assume he knows how to build something. And there are certainly many lessons to be learned by building something that is already well understood (as many people seem to be attesting to in these comments). Consider it "practice before the big game," where "the big game" is hopefully something he does in ten years that makes people's lives a little better.
Re: High school grad builds 8-bit computer from scratch
#60I'm sure it helps to have the right parents too. When I was in elementary school, I showed great curiosity for how our old Macintosh worked, but the internet wasn't around, there were no relevant books in the public library, and my parents didn't know jack-shit about computers.
My point is, with the right upbringing, we would all be like this. I'd like to learn more about this kids childhood. I wonder if, like me, he also went to run-down public high school and had technologically illiterate parents. If that the case, I'd be super impressed. Until then, I'm just mildly impressed and slightly jealous.