26 Jul
2001
26 Jul
'01
5:57 p.m.
Douglas Quebbeman <dhquebbeman(a)theestopinalgroup.com> said:
This just got me to thinking....
How did pocket protectors become associated with 'computer
enthusiasts'?
And how many here have wore a pocket protector on a regular
basis in the past?
I remember there was a time in school when I always wore
my metal Pickett in it's leather scabbard hanging from my
belt, but I never wore a pocket protector. I carried my
pens in my pants pockets.
My father wore a pocket protector all the time even when
he was not in uniform. In the 60's he managed gas stations.
Uniform shirts were expensive and the pocket protectors
were handed out for free by parts, tool, and oil distributors.
In the pocket protector he always carried - a tire gauge,
two pens (for filling out credit card slips), and a small
screwdriver.
I just never associated pocket protectors with anything
high tech.
--Doug
=========================================
Doug Coward
@ home in Poulsbo, WA
Analog Computer Online Museum and History Center
http://www.best.com/~dcoward/analog
=========================================
Vintage geek clothing contest.
heh. the winner should be someone who manages to find a way
to wear both a t-sheet and a pocket protector... 
27 Jul
27 Jul
1:58 a.m.
IBM Engineers tend to wear pocket protectors. (I'm an IBM engineer).
Peace... Sridhar
On Thu, 26 Jul 2001, Doug Coward wrote:
Douglas Quebbeman <dhquebbeman(a)theestopinalgroup.com> said:
This just got me to thinking....
How did pocket protectors become associated with 'computer
enthusiasts'?
And how many here have wore a pocket protector on a regular
basis in the past?
I remember there was a time in school when I always wore
my metal Pickett in it's leather scabbard hanging from my
belt, but I never wore a pocket protector. I carried my
pens in my pants pockets.
My father wore a pocket protector all the time even when
he was not in uniform. In the 60's he managed gas stations.
Uniform shirts were expensive and the pocket protectors
were handed out for free by parts, tool, and oil distributors.
In the pocket protector he always carried - a tire gauge,
two pens (for filling out credit card slips), and a small
screwdriver.
I just never associated pocket protectors with anything
high tech.
--Doug
=========================================
Doug Coward
@ home in Poulsbo, WA
Analog Computer Online Museum and History Center
http://www.best.com/~dcoward/analog
=========================================
Vintage geek clothing contest.
heh. the winner should be someone who manages to find a way
to wear both a t-sheet and a pocket protector... 
28 Jul
28 Jul
2:46 p.m.
Master of all that Sucks skrev:
IBM Engineers tend to wear pocket protectors. (I'm
an IBM engineer).
Then again, IBM employees are supposed to wear pantyhose as well.
It's true!
--
En ligne avec Thor 2.6a.
- Lupin! Vart ska du?
- Tar v?gen ?ver berget f?ljer gr?nsen s? kommer vi till havet.
- Det ?r ju mer ?n 100 km.
- Det ?r v?l ingenting. Jag tillh?r v?rldseliten jag.
Lupin III den otrolige (Lupin III vs. fukusei ningen), TMS 1978
5:41 p.m.
New subject: IBM and pantyhose (was: Pocket protectors)
On 29 Jul 2001, Iggy Drougge wrote:
Then again, IBM employees are supposed to wear
pantyhose as well.
It's true!
Hmmm, I wonder... does IBM have have any rules stating where employees
are supposed to wear them, or do the rules just state that one is to
wear them? There are multiple possibilities... over one's arms, head,
around one's shoulders, in one's sportscoat pocket in place of a
handkerchief, etc. Working at IBM must be rather interesting... the
more rules, the more poorly defined rules there usually are which one
can twist around to make the workplace environment more interesting.
--
Copyright (C) 2001 R. D. Davis The difference between humans & other animals:
All Rights Reserved an unnatural belief that we're above Nature &
rdd(a)rddavis.net 410-744-4900 her other creatures, using dogma to justify such
http://www.rddavis.net beliefs and to justify much human cruelty.
6:58 p.m.
New subject: OT Re: IBM and pantyhose (was: Pocket protectors)
"R. D. Davis" wrote:
On 29 Jul 2001, Iggy Drougge wrote:
Since this has now gained an OT life, I'll just throw in that lifesavers
(beach guards) in Queensland, Australia, do wear pantyhose - for
protection from box jelly fish (marine stingers).
I guess that is a hint for the people designing wearable computers -
build them by weaving bits into something very versatile.
--
Terry Collins {:-)}}} Ph(02) 4627 2186 Fax(02) 4628 7861
email: terryc(a)woa.com.au www: http://www.woa.com.au
WOA Computer Services <lan/wan, linux/unix, novell>
"People without trees are like fish without clean water"
Then again, IBM employees are supposed to wear
pantyhose as well.
It's true!
Hmmm, I wonder... does IBM have have any rules stating where employees
29 Jul
29 Jul
2 p.m.
New subject: IBM and pantyhose (was: Pocket protectors)
R. D. Davis skrev:
On 29 Jul 2001, Iggy Drougge wrote:
> Then again, IBM employees are supposed to wear pantyhose as well.
> It's true!
Hmmm, I wonder... does IBM have have any rules stating
where employees
are supposed to wear them, or do the rules just state that one is to
wear them? There are multiple possibilities... over one's arms, head,
around one's shoulders, in one's sportscoat pocket in place of a
handkerchief, etc. Working at IBM must be rather interesting... the
more rules, the more poorly defined rules there usually are which one
can twist around to make the workplace environment more interesting.
I got it from that lousy documentary series from a few years back about the
rise of the personal computer. The kind which only focuses on IBm, Bill Gates
and Apple.
Anyway, there was a spot with an old IBM employee telling an anecdote about
when he was green at the company, wandering down a corridor, impeccably
dressed, when he encounters an older employee who proceeds to lift his
trousers' leg, scolding him for not wearing pantyhose.
I could get the terminology wrong, though. Perhaps is pantyhose just for
women? The kind I'm referring to is the kind of ribbons used to keep men's
socks high.
--
En ligne avec Thor 2.6a.
"LART is an acronym for Luser Attitude Readjustment Tool, and is generally a
piece of heavy hard material such as a cricket or baseball bat, hunk of pipe,
or 2x4 for the fine tuning of a luser's atitude. This is a noun that can be
used as a verb. If I say I lart someone, I mean that I am performing delicate
tuning procedures upon that persons head utilizing a LART. An ICBM would be
considered an agressive LART."
2:25 p.m.
New subject: IBM and pantyhose (was: Pocket protectors)
Those are garters, and were required. Now we're only required to wear the
three-piece when meeting clients.
Peace... Sridhar
On 30 Jul 2001, Iggy Drougge wrote:
women? The kind I'm referring to is the kind of
ribbons used to keep men's
socks high.
3:18 p.m.
New subject: IBM and pantyhose (was: Pocket protectors)
On Sun, 29 Jul 2001, Master of all that Sucks wrote:
Those are garters, and were required. Now we're
only required to wear the
three-piece when meeting clients.
Hmmm... do they tell you _how_ you have to wear the three-piece suit?
Lots of possibilities for this come to mind... make a kilt out of the
jacket, partially separate the pants and wear them as shirt sleeves,
then wear your undershirt over the vest. Hey, you'd not be violating
company policy! ;-)
--
Copyright (C) 2001 R. D. Davis The difference between humans & other animals:
All Rights Reserved an unnatural belief that we're above Nature &
rdd(a)rddavis.net 410-744-4900 her other creatures, using dogma to justify such
http://www.rddavis.net beliefs and to justify much human cruelty.
3:52 p.m.
New subject: IBM and pantyhose (was: Pocket protectors)
At 03:00 AM 7/30/01 +0100, you wrote:
R. D. Davis skrev:
Anyway, there was a spot with an old IBM employee telling an anecdote about
when he was green at the company, wandering down a corridor, impeccably
dressed, when he encounters an older employee who proceeds to lift his
trousers' leg, scolding him for not wearing pantyhose.
I could get the terminology wrong, though. Perhaps is pantyhose just for
women? The kind I'm referring to is the kind of ribbons used to keep men's
socks high.
I believe the word you're looking for is Garter?
5:04 p.m.
New subject: IBM and pantyhose (was: Pocket protectors)
On Sun, 29 Jul 2001, Geoff Reed wrote and misquoted:
At 03:00 AM 7/30/01 +0100, you wrote:
>R. D. Davis skrev:
>Anyway, there was a spot with an old IBM employee telling an anecdote about
>when he was green at the company, wandering down a corridor, impeccably
>dressed, when he encounters an older employee who proceeds to lift his
>trousers' leg, scolding him for not wearing pantyhose.
[...]
Kindly note that I did not write the above quoted text. Please fix
your quoting mechanism.
RDD
--
Copyright (C) 2001 R. D. Davis The difference between humans & other animals:
All Rights Reserved an unnatural belief that we're above Nature &
rdd(a)rddavis.net 410-744-4900 her other creatures, using dogma to justify such
http://www.rddavis.net beliefs and to justify much human cruelty.
30 Jul
30 Jul
12:32 p.m.
New subject: IBM and pantyhose (was: Pocket protectors)
R. D. Davis skrev:
On Sun, 29 Jul 2001, Geoff Reed wrote and misquoted:
At 03:00 AM 7/30/01 +0100, you wrote:
>R. D. Davis skrev:
>Anyway, there was a spot with an old IBM employee telling an anecdote
>about when he was green at the company, wandering down a corridor,
>impeccably dressed, when he encounters an older employee who proceeds to
>lift his trousers' leg, scolding him for not wearing pantyhose.
[...]
Kindly note that I did not write the above quoted text.
Please fix
your quoting mechanism.
Well, while simply stating that some "you" wrote this and that, he didn't
imply that you, R.D., wrote it. Not if you're able to read attribution lines.
But I agree that Geoff should include the name of the previous author. "You"
doesn't amount to much on a mailing list. =)
--
En ligne avec Thor 2.6a.
Schont die Sockel, wenn ihr die Denkm?ler st?rzt. Sie k?nnten noch gebraucht
werden.
--- Stanislaw Jerzy Lec
4 p.m.
New subject: OT:Ebay sues "BidBay"
27 Jul
27 Jul
9:33 a.m.
--- Doug Coward <mranalog(a)home.com> wrote:
This just got me to thinking....
How did pocket protectors become associated with 'computer
enthusiasts'?
Have you ever seen the National Lampoon's "How to Spot a Nerd" poster? I
don't know if they drove the trend or if the trend drove them, but there's
a data point, c. 1973 (don't remember exactly when it came out).
And how many here have wore a pocket protector on a
regular
basis in the past?
Not me. Too young. I remember them, but I never wore one.
My father wore a pocket protector all the time even
when
he was not in uniform. In the 60's he managed gas stations.
I think they were lots more common in 1968 than 1978.
Uniform shirts were expensive and the pocket
protectors
were handed out for free by parts, tool, and oil distributors.
In the pocket protector he always carried - a tire gauge,
two pens (for filling out credit card slips), and a small
screwdriver.
But that's a specific application - trademen wearing uniforms. Pens
would leak, screwdrivers would poke holes in your shirt - all reasons
why someone invented the pocket protector in the first place.
I imagine the shift in public opinion came about because only Engineers
and Tradesmen would have probably worn them, even in the 1960s, and to
have one with two pens and a screwdriver proves that you are a) ready
to handle lots of situations, and b) not normal as a result of being
prepared. The combination of elements would make Joe Sixpack think that
only Gas Station attendants and Geeks would ever want/need one, and he's
not either one of those, so...
-ethan
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28 Jul
28 Jul
2:44 p.m.
Doug Coward skrev:
Douglas Quebbeman
<dhquebbeman(a)theestopinalgroup.com> said:
> >
> > Vintage geek clothing contest.
> >
>
> heh. the winner should be someone who manages to find a way
> to wear both a t-sheet and a pocket protector...
This just got me to thinking....
How did pocket protectors become associated with 'computer
enthusiasts'?
And how many here have wore a pocket protector on a regular
basis in the past?
What the hell is a pocket protector?
--
En ligne avec Thor 2.6a.
Keine Grenze verlockt mehr zum Schmuggeln als die Altersgrenze.
--- Robert Musil
4:55 p.m.
On 29 Jul 2001, Iggy Drougge wrote:
You've never heard of a pocket protector before? Amazing. Perhaps
it's a language translation thing, and they're called something else
in your country. Over here, they're very popular. A pocket
protector, as mentioned above, is a reasonably heavy vinyl lining for
a shirt pocket, into which one places writing instruments, etc. Refer
to figure 1 below for an illustration of a pocket protector. The
pocket protector is represented by the asterisks; the straight lines
represent the shirt and pocket.
|
|*
|*
|* ***
|* *|*
|* *|*
|* *|
|***|
+---+
fig. 1
ASCII cutaway representation of a pocket protector.
--
Copyright (C) 2001 R. D. Davis The difference between humans & other animals:
All Rights Reserved an unnatural belief that we're above Nature &
rdd(a)rddavis.net 410-744-4900 her other creatures, using dogma to justify such
http://www.rddavis.net beliefs and to justify much human cruelty.
Doug Coward skrev:
>Douglas Quebbeman <dhquebbeman(a)theestopinalgroup.com> said:
>> heh. the winner should be someone who manages to find a way
>> to wear both a t-sheet and a pocket protector...
That's easy. Clip the pocket protector on with alligator clips
attached to red and black wires... this will have the advantage or
providing one with an emergency supply of spare test leads. :-)
> This just got me to thinking....
> How did pocket protectors become associated with 'computer
>enthusiasts'?
Ok, I see it's time for the Pocket Protectors 101 course...
Since I wore one back in college during a time when I was taking a lot
of math, science and electronics classes, I'll take a guess at
answering this. Back then, math, engineering, electronics, etc.
students were the most likely students to be computer hackers. Such
students have a need to carry a wide variety of pencils and pens,
etc. in their shirt pockets; for example, I typically had fine and
extra fine point Scripto (?) "click" pencils (press on the little
chrome tab that holds the eraser and more lead comes out), a
retractable erasor, a couple of different pens and perhaps a
felt-tipped marker or two.
Pocket protectors are made of reasonably thick vinyl and lessen the
chance of one damaging oneself, or one's clothes, if one fall, bends,
or bumps into something the wrong way --- that is, in such a way as to
get stabbed by the writing instruments in one's shirt pocket. Pocket
protectors also keep one's pocket from getting dirty from lead and
pens that might leak ink; in addition, they protect the shirt pocket
from the wear of clipping and unclipping writing
instruments to and
from it.
And how many
here have wore a pocket protector on a regular
basis in the past?
What the hell is a pocket protector?
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14 comments
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participants (8)
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chobbs＠socal.rr.com -
ethan_dicks＠yahoo.com -
geoffr＠zipcon.net -
mranalog＠home.com -
optimus＠canit.se -
rdd＠smart.net -
terryc＠woa.com.au -
vance＠ikickass.org