The WDR paper computer or Know-how Computer is an educational model of a computer consisting only of a pen, a sheet of paper, and individual matches in the most simple case. [1] This allows anyone interested to learn how to program without having an electronic computer at their disposal.
The paper computer was created in the early 1980s when computer access was not yet widespread in Germany, to allow people to familiarize themselves with basic computer operation and assembly-like programming languages. It was distributed in over 400000 copies and at its time belonged to the computers with the widest circulation.
The Know-how Computer was developed by Wolfgang Back and Ulrich Rohde and was first presented in the television program WDR Computerclub (broadcast by Westdeutscher Rundfunk) in 1983. It was also published in German computer magazines mc and PC Magazin . [2]
The original printed version of the paper computer has up to 21 lines of code on the left and eight registers on the right, which are represented as boxes that contain as many matches as the value in the corresponding register. [3] A pen is used to indicate the line of code which is about to be executed. The user steps through the program, adding and subtracting matches from the appropriate registers and following program flow until the stop instruction is encountered.
The instruction set of five commands is small but Turing complete and therefore enough to represent all mathematical functions:
In the original newspaper article about this computer, it was written slightly differently (translation):
An emulator for Windows is available on Wolfgang Back's website, [5] but a JavaScript emulator also exists. [6] Emulators place fewer restrictions on line count or the number of registers, allowing longer and more complex programs.
The paper computer's method of operation is nominally based on a register machine by Elmar Cohors-Fresenborg, [2] [7] but follows more the approach of John Cedric Shepherdson and Howard E. Sturgis in their Shepherdson–Sturgis register machine model. [8]
A derived version of the paper computer is used as a "Know-How Computer" in Namibian school education. [9]
Reverse Polish notation (RPN), also known as reverse Łukasiewicz notation, Polish postfix notation or simply postfix notation, is a mathematical notation in which operators follow their operands, in contrast to prefix or Polish notation (PN), in which operators precede their operands. The notation does not need any parentheses for as long as each operator has a fixed number of operands.
A one-instruction set computer (OISC), sometimes referred to as an ultimate reduced instruction set computer (URISC), is an abstract machine that uses only one instruction – obviating the need for a machine language opcode. With a judicious choice for the single instruction and given arbitrarily many resources, an OISC is capable of being a universal computer in the same manner as traditional computers that have multiple instructions. OISCs have been recommended as aids in teaching computer architecture and have been used as computational models in structural computing research. The first carbon nanotube computer is a 1-bit one-instruction set computer.
The Z3 was a German electromechanical computer designed by Konrad Zuse in 1938, and completed in 1941. It was the world's first working programmable, fully automatic digital computer. The Z3 was built with 2,600 relays, implementing a 22-bit word length that operated at a clock frequency of about 5–10 Hz. Program code was stored on punched film. Initial values were entered manually.
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Excess-3, 3-excess or 10-excess-3 binary code, shifted binary or Stibitz code is a self-complementary binary-coded decimal (BCD) code and numeral system. It is a biased representation. Excess-3 code was used on some older computers as well as in cash registers and hand-held portable electronic calculators of the 1970s, among other uses.
In mathematical logic and theoretical computer science, a register machine is a generic class of abstract machines used in a manner similar to a Turing machine. All models of register machines are Turing equivalent.
The MC14500B Industrial Control Unit (ICU) is a CMOS one-bit microprocessor designed by Motorola for simple control applications in 1977.
The Z1 was a motor-driven mechanical computer designed by German inventor Konrad Zuse from 1936 to 1937, which he built in his parents' home from 1936 to 1938. It was a binary, electrically driven, mechanical calculator, with limited programmability, reading instructions from punched celluloid film.
CARDIAC (CARDboard Illustrative Aid to Computation) is a learning aid developed by David Hagelbarger and Saul Fingerman for Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1968 to teach high school students how computers work. The kit consists of an instruction manual and a die-cut cardboard "computer".
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The Digi-Comp I was a functioning, mechanical digital computer sold in kit form. It was originally manufactured from polystyrene parts by E.S.R., Inc. starting in 1963 and sold as an educational toy for US$4.99.
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There are many variants of the counter machine, among them those of Hermes, Ershov, Péter, Minsky, Lambek, Shepherdson and Sturgis, and Schönhage. These are explained below.
The Olivetti Programma 101, also known as Perottina or P101, is one of the first "all in one" commercial desktop programmable calculators, although not the first. Produced by Italian manufacturer Olivetti, based in Ivrea, Piedmont, and invented by the Italian engineer Pier Giorgio Perotto, the P101 used many features of large computers of that period. It was launched at the 1964 New York World's Fair; volume production started in 1965. A futuristic design for its time, the Programma 101 was priced at $3,200 (equivalent to $30,900 in 2023). About 44,000 units were sold, primarily in the US.
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Fritz Ferdinand Pleitgen was a German television journalist and author. He was correspondent in Moscow, East Berlin and Washington. Pleitgen was a supporter of Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik. In 1988, Pleitgen became editor-in-chief of television of Germany's then-largest public broadcaster, Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR), and was director of WDR from 1995 to 2007. He is regarded as one of the most influential German journalists and media makers. In 2010, he was the manager of Ruhr.2010, a project of European Capital of Culture.
WDR Computerclub was the first television broadcast in West Germany of the Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) that dealt solely with the issues of computer and technology. It began its first broadcasting in 1981 under the name eff-eff, was later renamed to WDR Computerclub, and was hosted until 2003 by Wolfgang Back and Wolfgang Rudolph.
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Norbert Ryska is a German mathematician and museum director. Ryska worked from 1976 to 1992 as an employee of Nixdorf Computer AG in the R&D department. Until 1996 as managing director and project manager on behalf of the Nixdorf Foundations mainly responsible for the construction of the Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum (HNF). From 1996 to 2013, Ryska was the managing director for the museum and technology departments of the HNF.