<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=windows-1252"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;">I recently had a discussion about analog computing with someone who works actively on<div>hybrid analog-digital systems at the integrated circuit level. My proposal was that there seems</div><div>to be, based on historical accounts and reflection, two differing views on “analog”: 1) analog</div><div>reflecting the continuous or discrete character of magnitude of a variable, and 2) isomorphism</div><div>indicated by construing analog to be associated closely with analogy.</div><div><br></div><div>To take one example which can serve for discussion: Are Minecraft circuits analog, digital, or</div><div>both? It depends on how we define “analog” and where we focus (on the issue of representation</div><div>or magnitude). For example, redstone circuits could be viewed as analog computing in the sense</div><div>that the circuits are analogous to electronic circuits containing gates such as and, or, xor, etc.</div><div>And yet, at the bottom of the vast hierarchy of translation, we have Minecraft servers and clients</div><div>working on top of a digital substrate. In the mid 90s, I bought a Nord Lead for my synthesizer</div><div>collection, and Nord uses “virtual analog” to characterize their lineup (an analog front end</div><div>and a digital back end):</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.nordkeyboards.com/products/nord-lead-2x">http://www.nordkeyboards.com/products/nord-lead-2x</a></div><div><br></div><div>My view is that the issue of magnitude is a side-effect of “analog as analogy and, thus,</div><div>isomorphism", and thus not primary. Tangible objects when juxtaposed and configured together</div><div>to form physical analogies happen to be continuous simply because reality and our physiology</div><div>is continuous, and we employ real objects (at least in the mind) when forming analogies. This</div><div>view may need tweaking, but it seems as though the knowledge of such things is present in</div><div>this forum.</div><div><br></div><div>What are the thoughts on this? Is this an ongoing point of debate among historians?</div><div><br></div><div>-paul</div><div><br></div><div><br><div apple-content-edited="true">
<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;"><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;"><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;"><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;"><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;"><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;"><div><div>Paul Fishwick, PhD</div><div><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;">Chair, ACM SIGSIM</div><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;">Distinguished University Chair of Arts & Technology </div><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;"> and Professor of Computer Science</div><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;">Director, Creative Automata Laboratory</div><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;">The University of Texas at Dallas</div><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;">Arts & Technology</div><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;">800 West Campbell Road, AT10</div><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;">Richardson, TX 75080-3021</div></div></div><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;">Home: <a href="http://utdallas.edu/atec/fishwick">utdallas.edu/atec/fishwick</a></div><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;">Blog: <a href="http://creative-automata.com">creative-automata.com</a></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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