While I’m not disputing the substance of what you are saying here (besides the 4004 timeline), from a computer science perspective I am a bit annoyed at the terminology. A machine that can load computational instructions from a storage medium would traditionally be called a programmable computer, whereas the system you describe “a machine that runs an algorithm” is just precisely a computer. I understand that this is not a nuance represented in more popular terminology, but I feel an article that is precise about the difference could benefit from also using the more precise terminology.
While I’m not disputing the substance of what you are saying here (besides the 4004 timeline), from a computer science perspective I am a bit annoyed at the terminology. A machine that can load computational instructions from a storage medium would traditionally be called a programmable computer, whereas the system you describe “a machine that runs an algorithm” is just precisely a computer. I understand that this is not a nuance represented in more popular terminology, but I feel an article that is precise about the difference could benefit from also using the more precise terminology.
Thanks, I didn’t know that. I just added that as a footnote at the top of the post.