Linked by Thom Holwerda on Sat 22nd Nov 2008 23:05 UTC
In the News When you're diving into the history of computing and its concepts, you rarely have to look much further back in time than the Second World War. It happens sometimes, but not that often. However, there are exceptions - and this is one that really boggles the mind: the pixel? One of those little dots on your screen? It's well over 400 years old.
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RE: No surprise there
by diskinetic on Sun 23rd Nov 2008 19:28 UTC in reply to "No surprise there"
diskinetic
Member since:
2005-12-09

It sort of reminds me of the article I read once about the Egyptians somehow "using" Pi to construct their pyramids. Turned out that they didn't have direct abstract knowledge of Pi, but were rather using measuring wheels to set the massive construction dimensions. The wheels then forced Pi's relationships into the pyramids. Here you have a craftsman faced with the challenge of making an image from interconnected yet discrete pieces. He does the (repeatedly) logical thing, and bam! You have "pixels".

I wonder if he thought, "Wow! This would look great on a properly-designed OLED screen!"

Nihil nova sub sola.

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