Q&A ยท 4:18:55-4:19:54

Digital computers among wartime inventions

They are important enough for a general list, although their oddness is less clear.

Question

Should digital computers be included among unusual wartime inventions?

Short answer

They are important enough for a general list, although their oddness is less clear.

Notes

Digital computers would qualify for a general list of important wartime inventions, although they are judged insufficiently odd for this question. Follow-up recollections mention a mechanical ternary computer said to have been built at Bletchley Park and a dual-binary arrangement. Early American computers are also said to have suffered damage through unsuitable power arrangements. The machine identities and several technical details remain indistinct, so these recollections do not establish a precise sequence of computer development.