The Loom That Helped Inspire Computing

Transcript

Before electronic computers, the Jacquard loom followed instructions punched into cards.

Each card selected which lengthwise threads would rise.

A hole lets a pin pass through, leaving its hook ready to lift.

No hole pushes the pin back, moving that hook aside.

The selected threads rise, and a shuttle carries another thread through the gap.

Change the cards, and you change the woven pattern.

Charles Babbage borrowed this idea for his planned Analytical Engine.

A pattern stored outside the machine. In cardboard.

Attribution

Original simplified Blender reconstructions, animation, typography and sound cues by AskPandi; research from Science Museum Group, the Computer History Museum, National Museums Scotland and IIT Delhi/NPTEL; narration generated with ElevenLabs. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}