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Parametron: 50s Japanese computer that uses neither transistors nor vacuum tubes

ethw.org

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Re: Parametron: 50s Japanese computer that uses neither transistors nor vacuum tubes

#21

Post by leoc »

HPsquared wrote: post #9
benj111 wrote: post #4

>Eiichi Goto Is it nominative determinism if it's 2 years before the introduction of Goto (1956, Fortran apparently) Or maybe it was named in his honour?

There's also GotoBLAS, developed by Kazushige Goto. I wonder if they have any relation or if it's a relatively common name.

Very common in Japan, it seems: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Got%C5%8D_(surname) . (Confusingly there is both a Mariko Goto who used to be the singer in a band named Midori and a Japanese-American violinist named Midori Goto.)

Re: Parametron: 50s Japanese computer that uses neither transistors nor vacuum tubes

#22

Post by purplemoonx »

A link halfway down the page is causing the whole thing to have wide horizontal scroll.

    [that links selector] {
        text-overflow: ellipsis;
        overflow: hidden;
        white-space: nowrap;
        max-width: 100%;
        display: inline-block;
    }
Fixes it but seems overkill - why isn't white-space nowrap; ever enough?

Or break-word - feel like nobody uses that one even though it has the best name for what I want to do.

Anyway

Re: Parametron: 50s Japanese computer that uses neither transistors nor vacuum tubes

#24

Post by benj111 »

ranger_danger wrote: post #8
cwmoore wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please see: “nominative determinism”

The last name "Goto" in this case is actually read Gotou (ごとう), but romanization methods are their own flamewar. There's much less emphasis put on the "go" part than the "tou", so pronunciation doesn't actually sound anything like the English word "goto" at all. Imagine the spanish word gato. Now elongate the "to", and change the ga to go, and you're close.

TBF, do we actually know how goto the statement was intended to be pronounced?

It's like saying Bob Gif is pronounced with a J so sounds nothing like the file format.....

Re: Parametron: 50s Japanese computer that uses neither transistors nor vacuum tubes

#25

Post by mikewarot »

Meanwhile, in the US, the Univac Solid State computer[1] used similar principles in its patented[3] "Solid State Logic"[2], and was also released in 1958.

My understanding is that the magnetic amplifiers used in the V2 rocket kicked off a lot of interesting uses of magnetic cores.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNIVAC_Solid_State

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_logic

[3] https://patents.google.com/patent/US2709798A/en

Re: Parametron: 50s Japanese computer that uses neither transistors nor vacuum tubes

#26

Post by bryanlarsen »

Forgeties79 wrote: post #14
taneq wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it’s literally a paragraph from TFA. https://ethw.org/Milestones:Parametron,_1954#Invention_of_th...

[flagged]

AI detectors have very poor accuracy on short articles.

Re: Parametron: 50s Japanese computer that uses neither transistors nor vacuum tubes

#28

Post by clint »

Forgeties79 wrote: post #3
sixtyj wrote: post #2

> In 1954, Eiichi Goto invented the parametron, a logic device leveraging nonlinear parametric oscillation with two ferrite cores. Unlike the vacuum tube and early transistor circuits prevalent at the time, the parametron offered remarkable stability, requiring minimal maintenance compared to vacuum tubes with short lifetime and costing significantly less than both vacuum tubes and nascent transistors. Its simplicity…

[flagged]

AI reply

Re: Parametron: 50s Japanese computer that uses neither transistors nor vacuum tubes

#29

Post by chuckadams »

tiazumdove wrote: post #13

The quantum flux parametron is a really fascinating design and I always wondered why no one talks about it. You can get to GHz range easily and computing will be adiabatic. Its based on Josephson-junctions so you need to provide very low temperatures. I always thought it was a more promising next gen compute technology than the current quantum computers. Especially when you get to write your own SQUIDs in a SEM. Its…

"Quantum Flux Parametron" is also the most awesomest sci-fi sounding name, straight out of Buck Rogers.

Re: Parametron: 50s Japanese computer that uses neither transistors nor vacuum tubes

#30

Post by adrian_b »

mikewarot wrote: post #25

Meanwhile, in the US, the Univac Solid State computer[1] used similar principles in its patented[3] "Solid State Logic"[2], and was also released in 1958. My understanding is that the magnetic amplifiers used in the V2 rocket kicked off a lot of interesting uses of magnetic cores. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNIVAC_Solid_State [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_logic [3] https://patents.google.com/paten…

During WWII, Germany used magnetic amplifiers in many different kinds of military equipment, because they had the advantage of being much more rugged and reliable than the electronic devices available at that time.

After WWII, the technology of magnetic amplifiers was one of many technologies that USA took from Germany and provided to US companies (like also the Soviet Union did with their part of Germany, but while USA took the technical documentation and samples of the products, the Soviet Union moved entire factories to Russia, piece by piece).

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