27 Oct
2010
27 Oct
'10
4:43 a.m.
On 27 Oct 2010 at 0:20, William Donzelli wrote:
I recall decks of cards that were used to identify plants, birds,
etc. Holes along the edges; you inserted knitting needles according
to observed characteristics and shook the deck. The cards left on
the needles (or maybe the ones that fell out; I can't recall) were
your candidates.
Didn't the NCR CRAM use a similar addressing system for its cards--
some sort of edge-hole coding?
--Chuck
My father (NOT
a computer historian) used to tell me that IBM
patented the shape of the hole! ?That resulted in a few short-lived
attempts at round-hole cards, etc.),
More than a few, actually. There were many, including a trinary one
(Super Bee or something. Anyone help?) that used cards with
information only on the four edges of the card, but the choices were
hole, no-hole, or hole-with-no-outside-edge.