"I bet even Ralph doesn't remember everything about those days, and his alleged fortress of documentation may or may not be 100% comprehensive or precise. "
Actually, the documentation is very precise - that's one of the reasons they won the cases and his patents were upheld. That's also one of the things Nolan always chastised Ralph about, that he was just very good at doccumentation and filing patents. And I'm not sure why you're calling it "alleged", its currently housed with the Smithsonian.
And as someone who talks to Ralph pretty regularly, I can say his memory is extremely intact. Comes from the need to regularly defend his patents, and constantly talking and presenting on the subject - he still has a very busy schedule even with his health problems. In fact, a group of us (including Ralph) are actually busy working out a number of missconceptions from the time period (not related to the Odyssey) across the board regarding various companies, designers, etc. and his memory of the period (names, facts, directions to take in investigating) have been extremely precise.
"In short, when you're dealing with a controversy so heated, it's wise not to take either side at face value. If Baer says the system is digital, enter that into the debate, but again, it's a claim that must be taken as evidence (not proof)."
I'm going to have to completely disagree. If the designer himself says it was designed digital, provides the plans and documents of the design process, and the courts uphold it as being digital, there's not much skew there or debate. They're also in his book, and available at the Smithsonian as mentioned. In fact, the need for proof lies with those who keep trying to claim its not digital.
"A light switch has two discrete states--on or off. Does that make it digital? Likewise, an "analog" watch contains a second hand that moves a specific distance at discrete intervals. Digital? I've also heard mathematicians say that any set of switches that can be moved on or off can serve as the basis for all mathematical operations."
That doesn't make a lot of sense, individual discrete components do not represent "digitial" circuits. The circuit(s) design as a whole does. i.e. "The distinction of "digital" versus "analog" can refer to method of input, data storage and transfer, or the internal working of a device". So in your examples, yes, individual items that can represent discrete (binary) states (such as your lightswitch example) can indeed be used to form a digital circuit. A lightswitch is nothing more than a manually controlled gate (though nowadays can be automatically controlled as well), and a succession of them can be used to form logic gates. The watch example also doesn't make a lot of sense - its moving a percieved exact distance because of precisely formed gears, not a circuit and certainly with no input or output. And the discrete intervals are actually an illusion, since there's usually no crystial to provide a reasonably accurate rate. There's no input to these devices, you manually set a "state" and the device simply uses a motion based component to provide advancement - and in most cases that motion component also needs to be manually controlled (through manual winding or self-winding from motion of the watch itself). Hence "analog" watches tend to loose time over periods, no different than grandfather clocks or similar non-electrical devices that use motion to provide rate.
Once again, the Odyssey (meaning its main game circuits and logic) is designed using DTL logic. Diode-Transistor Logic is by definition, a class of digital circuits. Its not something under debate - that's the standard definition. It was later produced in single chip (IC) format and then replaced by the IC based TTL, which simply replaced two of the diodes with an NPN transistor. What were the analog components on the odyssey? The controller and the television signal output (which is pretty standard among even CPU based consoles).
"I bet even Ralph doesn't remember everything about those days, and his alleged fortress of documentation may or may not be 100% comprehensive or precise. "
Actually, the documentation is very precise - that's one of the reasons they won the cases and his patents were upheld. That's also one of the things Nolan always chastised Ralph about, that he was just very good at doccumentation and filing patents. And I'm not sure why you're calling it "alleged", its currently housed with the Smithsonian.
And as someone who talks to Ralph pretty regularly, I can say his memory is extremely intact. Comes from the need to regularly defend his patents, and constantly talking and presenting on the subject - he still has a very busy schedule even with his health problems. In fact, a group of us (including Ralph) are actually busy working out a number of missconceptions from the time period (not related to the Odyssey) across the board regarding various companies, designers, etc. and his memory of the period (names, facts, directions to take in investigating) have been extremely precise.
"In short, when you're dealing with a controversy so heated, it's wise not to take either side at face value. If Baer says the system is digital, enter that into the debate, but again, it's a claim that must be taken as evidence (not proof)."
I'm going to have to completely disagree. If the designer himself says it was designed digital, provides the plans and documents of the design process, and the courts uphold it as being digital, there's not much skew there or debate. They're also in his book, and available at the Smithsonian as mentioned. In fact, the need for proof lies with those who keep trying to claim its not digital.
"A light switch has two discrete states--on or off. Does that make it digital? Likewise, an "analog" watch contains a second hand that moves a specific distance at discrete intervals. Digital? I've also heard mathematicians say that any set of switches that can be moved on or off can serve as the basis for all mathematical operations."
That doesn't make a lot of sense, individual discrete components do not represent "digitial" circuits. The circuit(s) design as a whole does. i.e. "The distinction of "digital" versus "analog" can refer to method of input, data storage and transfer, or the internal working of a device". So in your examples, yes, individual items that can represent discrete (binary) states (such as your lightswitch example) can indeed be used to form a digital circuit. A lightswitch is nothing more than a manually controlled gate (though nowadays can be automatically controlled as well), and a succession of them can be used to form logic gates. The watch example also doesn't make a lot of sense - its moving a percieved exact distance because of precisely formed gears, not a circuit and certainly with no input or output. And the discrete intervals are actually an illusion, since there's usually no crystial to provide a reasonably accurate rate. There's no input to these devices, you manually set a "state" and the device simply uses a motion based component to provide advancement - and in most cases that motion component also needs to be manually controlled (through manual winding or self-winding from motion of the watch itself). Hence "analog" watches tend to loose time over periods, no different than grandfather clocks or similar non-electrical devices that use motion to provide rate.
Once again, the Odyssey (meaning its main game circuits and logic) is designed using DTL logic. Diode-Transistor Logic is by definition, a class of digital circuits. Its not something under debate - that's the standard definition. It was later produced in single chip (IC) format and then replaced by the IC based TTL, which simply replaced two of the diodes with an NPN transistor. What were the analog components on the odyssey? The controller and the television signal output (which is pretty standard among even CPU based consoles).
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