Build a Working Computer From Thread Spools, Screws, and … Paper Clips?

Sometimes it’s not how well something is made, but that it was made at all. Building a computer (as defined by 1968 standards) from a handful of hardware store purchases definitely falls into that category. Archive.org has uploaded the book How to Build a Working Digital Computer to their free database, which contains all the instructions and diagrams needed to build your own (very) basic computer—without any specialized electronic parts. Almost everything is made from scratch, and you’d be surprised by how useful a paper clip can be in the pursuit of technology. Still, don’t let the simplicity of the components fool you; building a computer, even one as bare bones as this, is incredibly complicated. But it can be done, as you can see from the videos below.