Pre-20th Century Gadgetery 104
The Byelorussian Hatter writes "Wired, presumably bored to death of Cellphones, Zunes, MairBook Nacs and what-have-you, looks back at the elegant inventions of a less civilized age. 'The Turk was a chess player concealed in a table packed with cogs and gears, contrived to give the appearance of a mighty chess-playing machine. Atop the table, an articulated automaton would be seen to make the moves determined by the master within. One of the 18th and 19th century's many illustrious hoaxes, the Turk is perhaps the greatest gadget that wasn't.'"
No weaponry? (Score:1, Interesting)
-Eric-
For an earlier perspective... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:"Ark of the Covenant"? (Score:1, Interesting)
Do you mean that the objects that do follow you around do not distract you?
Maybe you should read the Book of Mormon sometime instead of websites that 'sum it up' for you. The Liahona just told them where to go and gave instruction, none of which involved battle strategy.
Regardless, you gotta admit that some of the BofM is violent. They sneak into a neighboring city wearing the uniform of the city guards and *decapitate* some dude for the crime of "being evil" because "God them them to" (paraphrased). Bin Laden uses the same logic.
Re:No weaponry? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:No weaponry? (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm more surprised that the Droz automata are not listed. If 'The Turk is perhaps the greatest gadget that wasn't', then the Droz androids are the gratest gadgets that actually were. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ypKJWXFj48&feature=related [youtube.com]
Re:Makes you relize (Score:5, Interesting)
Let's not get all excited by this "royal we" concept. Some of us can slaughter a cow - you need not be a medieval peasant, just someone who grew up or has worked on a farm or ranch.
I think your premise is a bit flawed. Clearly, as a society or race or species (however you choice to enclose large groups of humans) "we" understand and can manipulate much larger bodies of knowledge than say, a medieval priest or even royalty. But on an individual level, this is also true. Lots of folks I know can slaughter a cow, at least pretend to fix a microwave, certainly fix an internal combustion engine, use a complex piece of electronic equipment (and I'm not talking about an iPod), shoot a gun, etc. recall the quotation from St. Heinlein: