Reply to Thread

Message:: [QUOTE="GDJMSP, post: 493091, member: 112"]I disagree. Think about it for a minute. Yeah we all think that computers have made huge advances in the past 20 years - but they haven't.  Computers have had for decades the ability to do a lot. Computers put man on the moon 40 years ago. Computers allowed the 747, the airplane that could take off, fly and land itself - 30 years ago. But in essence the computer and its abilities has not changed. They have only gotten smaller and faster. And you would think that grading a coin would be easier ? Well it isn't. Not for a computer anyway. Computers rely on set, established, and tangible information. Sure computers can count the marks on a coin, determine where they are and assign points based on that; they can determine severity of marks. They can measure depth of strike and tell if it is all there or not. They can even measure wear to be able to assign a circulated grade. They can do amazing things, but they still cannot do what the human mind can do - understand abstract concepts like quality of luster and eye appeal. They can't differentiate between frost breaks and breaks in the luster. They can't tell if a coin is just weakly struck or if that lack of detail is due to wear. And it is those things that stopped them 20 years ago and still those things that will stop them now. Computers cannot think - they can only compute. And grading coins requires thinking.[/QUOTE]