# This machine takes turns. But it cannot count.

- Series: [Pause Machines](https://miu.fm/pausemachines.md)
- Published: 2026-10-11
- Page: https://miu.fm/pausemachines/this-machine-takes-turns-but-it-cannot-count

## Story

This machine takes turns. But it cannot count.

Seven marbles, one crank, no job. A great wheel lifts them, and every one rolls to the same brass gate. The gate leans one way, so the marble falls the other way, and its weight tips the gate over as it leaves. The next marble finds it leaning the other way. That is all the memory the machine has, and it is never wrong: the two children on the see-saw get a marble each, in turn, until a tooth gives way.

Every knock and every music-box note is timed by the machine's own crank.

Which machine with no job should we build next?

## Watch

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DeXeFajiqST/

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Under copyright law, a quotation must name its source: Miuradio, https://miu.fm/pausemachines/this-machine-takes-turns-but-it-cannot-count

© 2026 Miuradio, https://miuradio.com
