[PD] [OT] Computers just for maths? WAS Music Notation in linux

[Andrew Faraday]

It's also pretty fair to say that all computers do IS maths. They perform binary operations at a rate of thousands per second. The fact that we've got these binary digits to produce a human-readable display, we use it to produce audio, and represent text, and we make our input in a non-mathematical form. 

That doesn't stop computers just being capable of maths.

It's why programs are called applications, they're simply another way to apply maths. 

I, for one, am quite glad, because I'm good at logic, but barely average at arithmetic :p

Andrew

> Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2012 09:07:09 +0100
> From: lorenzofsutton at gmail.com
> To: matju at artengine.ca
> CC: pd-list at iem.at
> Subject: Re: [PD] [OT] Music Notation in linux
> 
> On 05/03/12 01:43, Mathieu Bouchard wrote:
> > Le 2012-03-03 à 22:54:00, Lorenzo Sutton a écrit :
> >
> >> You can create a midi output, with all the drawbacks and benefits. As 
> >> far as I know there is no lilypond "player", but to be totally honest 
> >> I'm not sure it would make so much sense as lilypond is primarily a 
> >> music typesetting language.
> >
> > Do you also mean it doesn't make much sense to use PureData for 
> > anything else than audio ?
> No, nor I see the logic by which you assume I mean that from the above 
> statement.
> >
> > And computers were only meant for doing math, too.
> 
> Indeed they are.
> And I don't think "math" is anything dirty, with less dignity than other 
> disciplines, or to be ashamed of.
> Computers are very powerful, yet stupid, calculators. In fact in Italian 
> we still use the word "calcolatore" to address a computer. And of course 
> 'computer' itself stems from the French "computer", and in turn from the 
> Latin  "computare". [1]
> Saying computers are anything different is at best a (very intriguing) 
> fascination; at worst plain mystification.
> 
> Lorenzo.
> 
> [1] http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/computer#Etymology
> 
> 
> 
> 
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