The Thinking Machine is a ternary computer that outputs melodies formed by three sounds as a result of its calculations. Whether binary or ternary, it is certainly a computer in Alan Turing's sense, although in this case the algorithmic mechanism is fixed, so it is not a universal Turing machine. However, like all computers the Thinking Machine is a logical machine with input and output that can process and store code, and it is an actual object that expresses discrete time within real time.

Furthermore, it is a machine and an artwork that forces us to think about media art by making visible and audible the fact that the computers that support contemporary society are driven by self-contained logical thought in a dimension beyond objects.