Conclusion

Abstract

This study opened with two main observations of analogue computing. The first related to technological classification and the complexity of defining ‘analogue computing’. The second noted that the major use of analogue computers was for modelling, indicating that the technology should be situated within a wider history of modelling technology. The first was an observation about analogue identity, the second was a more practical observation regarding analogue use. The conclusions of this book are summed up in three broad themes: first, that multiple perspectives of use call for multiple historical trajectories; second, that both theoretical classification and social associations played an important role in the construction and deconstruction of the analogue community; and third, that where analogue–digital debates existed, concerns of analogue users related to their specific requirements rather than to the technology’s merits. These debates were based on concrete use, not abstract theory.