How much would it cost major manufacturers e.g. HP/ACER to make computers which run on anything above binary e.g. octal or hexadecimal? didnt someone at some point make octal calculating computers btw?
2007-10-13 09:30:20 · 4 answers · asked by Muddogg 1 in Computers & Internet ➔ Programming & Design
"I'm not sure I understand your question fully.
But, binary is the absolute base language of a computer. All CPU's, memory, harddiscs, etc. run on binary.
This is due to the fact that transistors, magnetic impulses, optical pits, etc. are either in an "on" state, or an "off" state. Hence a "1" represents "on" and a "0" represents "off".
Transistors, etc cannot have multiple states beyond those two; so octal, hexidecimal, or other bases, are not able to be implemented."
yeah but i heard they tried to do something with octal - i know about simple transistors 1,0/on/off,true/false, i was just wandering if anyone else has heard of this?
2007-10-13 09:47:07 · update #1
There is NO POINT in making octal or hexadecimal when binary works so well, and by simple reinterpretation, can work as octal / Hexademical.
Computer scientists are still trying to figure out the rules for trinary logic and how that would help computing.
2007-10-13 10:09:28 · answer #1 · answered by Kasey C 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm not sure I understand your question fully.
But, binary is the absolute base language of a computer. All CPU's, memory, harddiscs, etc. run on binary.
This is due to the fact that transistors, magnetic impulses, optical pits, etc. are either in an "on" state, or an "off" state. Hence a "1" represents "on" and a "0" represents "off".
Transistors, etc cannot have multiple states beyond those two; so octal, hexidecimal, or other bases, are not able to be implemented.
2007-10-13 09:42:13 · answer #2 · answered by Wyoming Rider 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There have been non-binary computers in the past. They are really quite weird and interesting. One such example is the Singer 10 where the assembly language addressing is actually the digits as they would be printed.
2007-10-14 02:48:51 · answer #3 · answered by ensemble742661 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
don't forget the grey code for calculations... Most simulator computers use the grey code to prevent errors from small delays... This means the computer can count up to say 15 with only changing 1 digit at a time....
2007-10-13 10:43:10 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋