Steve Mann

If you look through the history of wearables, I was named the father of wearable computing, or the world's first cyborg. But the definition of wearable computing can be kind of fuzzy itself. Thousands of years ago, in China, people would wear an abacus around their neck - that, in one sense, was a wearable computer.

Canadian Scientist

June Brown

In 1930, when I was three and my sister was four, my father sent us to Miss Tracy's, a little 'dame's school' in Ipswich. I do remember playing with an abacus. He took us away after a term because he thought we weren't learning anything.

English Actress

Jan Koum

I didn't have a computer until I was 19 - but I did have an abacus.

American Businessman

Conan O'Brien

American Entertainer

An abacus is an ancient counting device, not a modern calculator.

Calculation Device

Using an abacus involves manually moving beads; it's tactile.

Physical Interaction

The abacus was essential before digital calculators; it's a piece of history.

Historical Importance

In architecture, an abacus is a structural element, not a tool for calculation.

Architectural Element

The abacus sits atop a column, supporting the capital directly.

Supports Capital

Abacuses in architecture vary in design across different orders and styles.

Design Variations

 the revolution will not be televised these are things that build up on each other when we look at radical leaps in mathematics so we can start counting on our toes right then we get to an abacus then we can get to a computer these are things that are discontinuities these are changes that happen radical leaps

Want interstellar...

 that they'll make today's fastest supercomputer look useless in comparison. In fact, for certain problems that are of great interest to us, today's fastest supercomputer is closer to an abacus than to a quantum computer. That's right, I'm talking about those little wooden things with the beads.

In the war for...

 In the context of effective learning, one of the things people talk about is hands-on learning. Children shouldn't memorize things from books, they should do activities, and that's a more effective way to learn. Which basically means giving students things like beads, learning rods, abacuses.

How to fix a broken...

 so what's the big idea about cloud computing to understand it you have to go backwards a long ways ever since people have that stuff they've had to figure out ways of tracking it counting on fingers didn't get you very far so 5,000 years ago they invented the abacus and while abacus is

Cloud Computing in 90...

 We aren't machines. We don't carry around an abacus every day, adding up what we're spending, in comparison to what we wanted. But what our brains are very good at is counting up the number of times we've done something. So I gave myself a limit.

3 psychological tricks...

 than current computers are from the abacus." It'll take time to make the necessary workflow integrations. It'll take time to onboard the right talent. Most importantly, it'll take time, not to mention vision and imagination,

The promise of quantum...

 machines that perform mathematical operations. The earliest computers were manual counting devices, like the abacus, while later ones used mechanical parts. What made them computers was having a way to represent numbers

How transistors work -...

 pride but only of which four are adults sorry five are adults my abacus is a bit rusty clearly I'm still astounded at how Tristan found these guys in here this morning he did an incredibly good job

Double the Lion Prides –...

 then we'll buy a normal F.M. radio. And that's me, I was going to say holding my first abacus, but actually holding what my father would consider an ample substitute to an iPad.

Shimon Schocken: The...

 Ever since computers were invented, we've been trying to make them smarter and more powerful. From the abacus, to room-sized machines,