Manual looms have existed for so long that nobody really knows exactly when they were invented, but they’ve been an important tool for as long as anyone remembers. During the industrial revolution, powered looms were invented and made textiles cheaper to produce than ever before. Then, in the digital age, computer-controlled looms became popular because they could weave new patterns at the push of a button. Despite being operated by a computer, however, they’re still very complex machines with many parts.