Mechanical Counters
Long before electronics became common, mechanical devices were used to count events. These are known as tally counters. They typically consist of a series of disks mounted on an axle, with the digits 0 through 9 marked on their edge. The right most disk moves one increment with each event. Each disk except the left-most has a protrusion that, after the completion of one revolution, moves the next disk to the left one increment. Such counters were originally used to control manufacturing processes, but were later used as odometers for bicycles and cars and in fuel dispensers. One of the largest manufacturers was the Veeder-Root company, and their name was often used for this type of counter.
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Famous quotes containing the word mechanical:
“No sociologist ... should think himself too good, even in his old age, to make tens of thousands of quite trivial computations in his head and perhaps for months at a time. One cannot with impunity try to transfer this task entirely to mechanical assistants if one wishes to figure something, even though the final result is often small indeed.”
—Max Weber (1864–1920)