Talk:Von Neumann machine

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1 proponents or opponents?
2 Is this a dab page?
3 Does Von Neumann deserve credit?
4 Merge Proposal
5 LDEs - signals from a von Neumann probe?

[edit] proponents or opponents?

One of the predictions of some proponents of nanotechnology is very small Von Neumann machines which, should they become out of control, would advance over the planet as a "grey goo".

Is that a prediction from proponents of nanotechnology, or its opponents? Jdavidb 14:25, 29 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Heh, good point. I think what the author meant is that they propone the idea that such nanotechnological feats can be acheived, regardless of whether they should. --SamuelScarano 14:15, 2004 Aug 23 (UTC)

[edit] Is this a dab page?

I've added the {{disambig}} notice to this page, since it contains merely summaries of and references to the three articles Von Neumann architecture, Clanking replicator, and Von Neumann probe. It's not a dab page in the standard format, though, and I'm not sure it should be. Any discussion? --Quuxplusone 05:19, 11 September 2005 (UTC)

Discussion appears to be happening at Talk:Von_Neumann_architecture#Merge_Proposal; please pick up the thread there. --DragonHawk 04:09, 13 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Does Von Neumann deserve credit?

Most books that go into the origins of electronic computers don't credit Von Neumann with the "stored program" concept. Even Von Neumann refused to claim credit for it, to his death.

What Von Neumann did is put his name on a report that had been created by a group of people, that's all.

By the way, it says this if you click through to the Von Neumann page, so this isn't even consistent.

--Samiam95124 20:41, 18 October 2005 (UTC)

Please note that none of the articles actually credit Von Neumann with the creation of the stored program concept. For whatever reason, though, the term "Von Neumann architecture" became one of the most common terms for the design, so I think it is reasonable that the article bears that name. Calling the article "Stored program computer" might be more appropriate, but OTOH, there are other kinds of stored program computers (see Harvard architecture). --DragonHawk 03:51, 13 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Merge Proposal

'No: Von Neumann machine has a wider implication than Von Neumann Arcitecture. The latter is a article on the computer arcitecture concepts. That article it'self points out the the term "Von Neumann Machine" means more than the computer arcitecture.

Von Neumann Machines also applies to concepts in molecular nanotechnology and theoretical starship desings (see: Von Neumann Probe).

This article is not about computer architectures. Trying to include it in a page about computer arcitecture is akin to putting an article about McDonalds in an article about Cows.

—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Beowulf314159 (talk • contribs) 12:50, 12 December 2005.

Discussion appears to be happening at Talk:Von_Neumann_architecture#Merge_Proposal; please pick up the thread there. --DragonHawk 04:09, 13 December 2005 (UTC)