the.com/loom
the machine that taught computers to count, one thread at a time
means To loom is to appear large, dim, and threatening, often gradually emerging into view — or, as a noun, the machine that weaves thread into cloth.
from Two different words wearing one spelling. The weaving 'loom' comes from Old English 'gelōma,' meaning a tool or utensil — so a loom is literally just 'the implement.' The verb 'loom,' meaning to appear menacingly, is murkier: it surfaces around the 16th century, possibly tied to a Low German or Scandinavian word for slow movement, and was first used of ships emerging hugely out of sea-mist before it spread to anything that rises up and threatens.
- punch cards
- Jacquard looms used them before computers existed
- oldest tech
- woven cloth dates back over 27,000 years
- the verb
- loomed means appearing large and threatening
- luddite target
- workers smashed power looms in 1810s England
- binary roots
- raised or lowered thread inspired digital ones and zeros
jacquard loom — invented by joseph marie jacquard in 1804, revolutionized textile patterning with punch cards
power loom — patented by edmund cartwright in 1785, mechanized weaving and transformed the industrial revolution
navajo weaving loom — traditional vertical loom used by navajo weavers in the american southwest for centuries