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The history of computers is not all digital, from the humble slide rule to hydraulic models of the economy there is a rich history of both electronic and mechanical analog computers. Here are some of our favorite examples. These computers have certain advantages over their symbolic counterparts. They measure continuous variables in parallel and therefore their accuracy is limited only by the granularity with which their results are read and their speed is not limited by sequential operations.

Amazing Analog Computers

With the notable exception of Apple, America has largely ceased to be a design culture, yet from Art Deco to Mid-Century modern, the US once ruled the world. There is no better example of a quintessentially American product designer than Raymond Loewy, who combined the exuberance of consumer culture with the asceticism of modernism and applied this to elements from pencil sharpeners to locomotives.Like Apples lead designer, Loewy was not from America. He was born in France and travelled to New York after WWI, wearing only his officers uniform and carrying $40. Here are a dozen of our favorite examples of Loewy designs.

12 Classic Raymond Loewy Designs


12 light therapy devices

Although making a 3d image is more dramatic than increasing its resolution, say, the technology is fairly primitive. Because of this, stereo cameras are something of an interesting retro curiosity. These days, custom made stereo cameras with twin lenses at eye separation are usually replaced by custom rigs for digital cameras, with appropriate software.

stereo cameras

From London to Moscow to New York, Chicago, Dubai and Shanghai, almost every single high rise city in the world is seeing skyscraper projects canceled even as they have their foundations laid and start to rise from the ground.Here is a list of the biggest projects that have been put on hold so far. The disappointing reality is that almost none of them have any particular architectural merit, apart from Calatrava’s Chicago Spire, perhaps, and reflect a period when architecture firms were too overloaded with work to think very hard about the designs. Vote for which ones you would have liked to have seen finished.

15 skyscrapers on hold

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WTF is that? #21

July 19th, 2010 #link


What is this machine – or far more interestingly, what does it make?

5 Responses to “WTF is that? #21”

  1. brian ehni Says:

    Heart lung machine? Makes oxygenated blood…

  2. caspar Says:

    the location it is standing in means it is probably art. so the thing it is monst likely to produce is shit…

  3. Rich White Says:

    Casper is right. It’s a work by Vim Delvoye. It accurately replicates the human digestive system – producing shit.

  4. Rich White Says:

    Casper is right. It’s a work by Wim Delvoye. It accurately replicates the human digestive system – producing shit.

  5. David Galbraith Says:

    @caspar and @rich, yes you insert food and it produces shit by replicating the human digestive system. It is designed for cafeteria left overs but for its first ingestion was cooked a 5 course meal. More here: