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Apollo 11 guidance computer compared with a modern day mobile phone.
(Which has most processing power?)

I thought it would be fun to compare a modern day electronic device with a past once pioneering electronic device. I have chosen to compare the latest mobile phone with the Apollo guidance computer that landed man on the moon.

I once came across a blog that suggested that most modern washing machines had more processing power than the Apollo space craft. Mobile phones are now becoming so advanced some almost make our home computers look inferior but are they really any more intelligent?

Despite the advances in computers and electronics and despite the vast difference in processing power the Apollo guidance computer could still land you on the moon however the HTC Desire could only get you home, and consider the Apollo guidance computer did that too, although it didn’t Tweet, “Hi honey, I’m home” or need to be backed up by an array of virtual friends although I believe the whole world did watch it.

Having just compared all of the specifications of both devices I am now finding it hard to choose between the two. Should I opt for the HTC Desire that plugs me directly into every social networking application there is or go for the Apollo guidance computer?  I am intrigued by which one would be most talked about if it was extracted from my pocket down my local although I am very sure which one would get the most bids on ebay.

That aside Apple has proved it’s not always about power or features sometimes it’s just cool to own something new.
I can’t tell you where to get an Apollo 11 Guidance computer but you can get a HTC Desire from Three for free.

         

 

Well for those who want to see the results the comparison table is below.

 

 

HTC Desire  

Apollo 11 guidance computer

Manufactured

2009

 

1966

Processor

ARM based Qualcomm QSD 8250 Snapdragon 1 GHz

 

MIT Discrete IC RTL based running at 2.048 MHz

ROM

512 MB flash

 

36864 Words (16 bit length)

RAM

576 MB

 

2048 Words (16 bit length)

Operating system

Android 2.1

 

Apollo Guidance Computer AGC

Display

3.7 inch 480x800 AMOLED touch screen

 

21, 7 Segment Electroluminescence and 13 indicators

Input

Multi-touch with HTC Sense interface.

 

19 Push buttons

Weight

135 g (4.8 oz)

 

70 lb (32 Kg)

Dimensions

119 x 60 x 11.9 mm

 

610 x 320 x 170 mm

Power consumption

Up to 360 Hours from a 1400mAh Lithium-ion battery

 

55W

Connectivity

HSPA/WCDMA: 900/2100 Mhz
GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
Wi-Fi (802.11b/g)
Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR

 

DSKY, IMU, Hand Controller, Rendezvous Radar (CM), Landing Radar (LM), Telemetry Receiver, Engine Command, Reaction Control System

Camera

5 Megapixel Colour
Autofocus
LED Auto flash
Face detection
Geotagging

  (optional extra)
Various Hasselbald film cameras

Other

Proximity sensor, G-Sensor, Digital compass, FM Radio, GPS, A-GPS and Ambient light sensor. It can get you home.

 

First ever IC based computer
It can land you on the moon

Cost Free on Three   $24 Billion

Idea (Android moon Lander)

Looks like it has already been done.

 
 
 

HTC Desire Help

The help pages have now moved to HTC Desire help

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Readers comments >

Date:  13-01-2011 06:15:00
From:  Brian
Location: London
Sorry I know this was a popular subject that many of you had responded to however I lost the comments due to a server change.

Date:  15-01-2011 09:49:38
From:  khblue
Location: Bristol, UK
I wondered if you had figured out how to synch via Outlook address book ? We've output from HTC Touch and imported into HTC Desire , using HTC synch, but now can only see surnames in the address book for many contacts :( Seems like fields have been lost. Any thoughts? Help would be much appreciated. Kevin

Date:  15-05-2011 08:41:28
From:  Dion Mollica
Location: Perth Australia
I have followed the instructions on this webpage and now successfully imported my contacts including email addresses (that were omitted before), but now I've noticed that all my email addresses are listed as '.com' instead of '.com.au'. When I tried to edit and add .au on the end of the email addresses, I've run out of characters (& its only 4 characters before the @!)! Please help!

Date:  19-05-2011 04:41:41
From:  nanunanu
Location:
need to know the battery voltage for the htc to do a comparison on the power consumption. also $24billion cost? either include the cost of just this component or include the whole development cost of the HTC, not the retail price.

Date:  01-08-2011 05:10:29
From:  Zana H. Mahmood
Location:
Thank you very much for your help.

Date:  02-12-2011 14:13:12
From:  stephanie lindsay
Location: Ireland
Oh my god! I've been tryng to figure how to import my contact for hour. Thank you so much. You Rock!

Date:  26-03-2013 16:16:22
From:  chris higgins
Location: uk
how can I move phone numbers from phone storage to my sim card ? cheers chris

Date:  03-05-2013 07:17:51
From:  Ian Rawlings
Location:
I am changing the SIM in my HTC desire to another provider. Is it possible to move my photos to new SIM if so how do I do it please?

Date:  29-06-2013 15:13:41
From:  incirclemedia.com
Location: Dubai, UAE
Guys, could you please share how to import contact from phone to sim card. I have htc ryhm android phone.

Date:  31-08-2013 04:00:24
From:  Albert Connelly
Location: Scotland
I have imported my contacts from sim to phone cheers . Now I have a contact list with every contacts name twice on phone and on sim .Is there anyway I can only have one contact on the list with both sim and phone ?

Date:  21-11-2014 11:28:25
From:  nivetha
Location: tamilnadu
I Lost all my contacts when i resettng the phone storage..i copied all the contacts to sd card and removd it.then i startd restng now i cant able to see my recent calls and im unable to make a call..hw should i get it back??

 
 
 

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Apollo 11 and HTC Desire Which one is best? June 2010
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