Analog Computers
A good summary of analog computers can be found on the wikipedia article:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Analog_computer" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Analog_computer</a><p>Takeaway: Analog computers are limited in precision and by &quot;analog noise&quot;; the precision of the components used determine the precision of the output. Usually no more than 3 or 4 decimal places are possible, at least with the tech that was used in their heydey. I would say that is still close to the case even today. Of course, one could do things like cryogenic cooling or such, but it becomes a cost factor at that point.<p>Something else that wasn&#x27;t mentioned:<p>The ADALINE&#x2F;MADALINE memister technology is an analog component, and is a hardware component equivalent to a McCulloch–Pitts neuron model (perceptron).<p>The memister is NOT to be confused with the memristor, which is a different technology; the memister was a 3-terminal device (memory transistor):<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;ADALINE" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;ADALINE</a><p>...whereas a memristor is a two terminal device (&quot;memory resistor&quot;):<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Memristor" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Memristor</a>