> Why didn’t ternary computing catch on? The primary reason was convention. Even though Soviet scientists were building ternary devices, the rest of the world focused on developing hardware and software based on switching circuits — the foundation of binary computing. Binary was easier to implement.
That's not the way I've heard the story. Ternary isn't just on/off, voltage yes/no like binary - you need to know the charge of the voltage: is it positive or negative? Essentially then your circuits are -/0/+ instead of (0/+) like it is for binary. Such ternary circuits resisted miniaturization. At a certain point the - and + circuits cross and arc and create a fire. The binary circuits kept getting miniaturized.
The story I've heard that goes along with this is that's how the US ultimately won the space race: the US bet on binary computing and the Soviets bet on ternary computing. The Soviets lost.
That's not the way I've heard the story. Ternary isn't just on/off, voltage yes/no like binary - you need to know the charge of the voltage: is it positive or negative? Essentially then your circuits are -/0/+ instead of (0/+) like it is for binary. Such ternary circuits resisted miniaturization. At a certain point the - and + circuits cross and arc and create a fire. The binary circuits kept getting miniaturized.
The story I've heard that goes along with this is that's how the US ultimately won the space race: the US bet on binary computing and the Soviets bet on ternary computing. The Soviets lost.