Why do we call them computers?

[jonnythan]

I'm not familiar with either. What user input does mountaneering wrist computer have?

They require calibration, have various user modes that display different information (ascent rates, altitude history, temperature history, etc etc), have scrollable histories, allow you to program certain workouts, etc.

I guess my view is not that we shouldn't call computers computers, but that maybe we should call digital depth gauges computers as well.

As The Kraken observed, this is just a mental exercise on a slow day.

However, I've seen people on this board quick to make a distinction, or point out the 'mistake' when someone calls a computer a gauge, or vice-versa, and I don't understand why it's such a big deal.

The terminology is probably all just driven by marketing, just like everything else.

IMO, it's not marketing driven. There's a very fundamental difference between a gauge (even a digital one) and a dive computer.

A computer tells you *how much time you have left*, which it works out through a complex theoretical algorithm, which is sometimes adjustable by the user. A depth gauge, whether mechanical or digital, uses a direct function and only displays elapsed time and/or depth.

There is no fundamental difference between a digital depth gauge and a mechanical depth gauge.. but there is a fundamental difference between either of those and a computer, which purports to tell you how to dive.. ie, it performs some intelligent function.

I think it's important to have "gauge" and "computer" separate terms.. I wouldn't want to call a digital depth gauge a "computer" and a mechanical one a "depth gauge" just because one runs on electronics. Divers are much better served by calling them different things.

 

[Goose75]

Flight computers are wheels with a slide that reminds people of a slide rule. Both flight and dive computers are called computers because the term was given before modern swings in the language. Engineers call their calculations models and train drivers are called Engineers for the same reason. They were called that before people decided the term meant something else.

 

[Diver0001]

As opposed to a depth guage, which reads pressure and computes your depth. No, wait...

Clearly a depth gauge is an input/output device. A computer is an input/process/output device.

What does a dive computer calculate that you can't figure out on your own? Depth is the only thing I can think of, and that, again, would be the same as a depth gauge.

Push your computer exactly 27 minuites over the NDL some time and then try answering that question again. I guarantee you if you do so that you'll discover the difference between a computer and a depth gauge.

Why isn't a GPS receiver a computer?

Input/output. A GPS receiver isn't telling you if it's *wise* to be standing where you are standing.....

R..

 

[dlndavid]

But GPS could tell you how far you are from the green and the hole.
Makes club selection a little easier.

 

[The Goat Show]

Can I have the last 20 seconds of my life back for reading this post?

 

[MtnDiver]

"What would YOU call them if not computers?"

I think "Automated Air-Integrated Diving Nitrogen Loading Calculator and Depth Indicator with Built-In Logging Capabilities" just rolls off the tongue so much smoother than "Dive Computer".

But that's just me.

 

[O2BBubbleFree]

There is no fundamental difference between a digital depth gauge and a mechanical depth gauge.. but there is a fundamental difference between either of those and a computer, which purports to tell you how to dive.. ie, it performs some intelligent function.

I disagree. I think that there is fundamental difference between an analog instrument and a digital one. However, since I've been working in electronics and computers for so many years, I admit that my experience colors my view.

I think it's important to have "gauge" and "computer" separate terms.
//snip//
Divers are much better served by calling them different things.

How so?

 

[simbrooks]

So some of the things mentioned in this thread fit into certain pigeonholes:
Gauges - input/output - measures things like depth, altitude, location, speed and displays for you to monitor, analog usually.
Data Recorders - input/output-storage - similar to a guage, but with the ability to record the measured data for later review, possibly including a simple calculation for average, maximum, minimum and maybe even a path followed. Usually digital and will require minute electrical responses from actual guage part to be processed so that the signal from that device can be displayed as something useful - signal processing is not the same as computing from an algorithm.
Computer - input/calculation/output-storage - similar to a data recorder, but it uses a variety of data inputed along with the algorithm to work out something not directly measurable and this is according to a model.
Device - remotes etc, which respond to an input and do a function, no direct output except transmission of a signal to another device which does something according to a mechanism or simple electronic circuit being connected.

There are other definitions and these are definitive or concise as they could be, but give an overall idea of what is going on. I think its a very slow day, raining constantly here!

Draw your own conclusions as to which things work in which way.

 

[dlndavid]

I think "Automated Air-Integrated Diving Nitrogen Loading Calculator and Depth Indicator with Built-In Logging Capabilities" just rolls off the tongue so much smoother than "Dive Computer".

But that's just me.

I think you're on to something.

 

[O2BBubbleFree]

Clearly a depth gauge is an input/output device. A computer is an input/process/output device.

Actually, it's not so clear. A depth gauge has a pressure sensor, not a depth sensor. To display depth it has to convert pressure to depth. That makes it an input/process/output device, or, by your definition, a computer. See what I'm getting at?

Input/output. A GPS receiver isn't telling you if it's *wise* to be standing where you are standing.....
R..

A GPS receiver tells you where you are at according to a man-made grid system. A dive computer tells you where you are at on a man-made dive table.

A GPS will also flash messages when you approach a certain position, much the same way that a dive computer will warn you if you get close to a NDL.

The more I think about it, the more similarities I see between a dive computer and a GPS receiver. I think I'll start calling mine a GPS computer.