On 04/08/2010 12:38 PM, Fred Cisin wrote:
On Wed, 7 Apr 2010, jd wrote:
Everyone around me at the time called it chaff.
Even the native IBMers
who used paper tape every single day. Those were the days when IBM
employee payroll statements were still printed on punched cards. Even
the hams called it that. At least those I knew.
Maybe Chad objected.
. . . so they hung him?
And then lynched him in 2000?
Maybe they were just funnin' me.
Did IBM really patent all those little chips?
My father said that IBM had patented the shape of the chips. Remember
round hole punched cards?
I've always assumed that the inventor was the one who created them. By
rights, he should have been the one to patent that.
I remember the little 96 column and two level cards that IBM,
Lockheed, NASA and USAF used. Of course, the USAF ones didn't
officially exist, just like their nonexistent spy satellite control
facility that only the Soviets knew about--and knew more about than
even USAF. They had some really nice, round and tiny holes. As a kid I
was always finding a bunch of them blowing around on the street.
Everyone used to collect them. They were more valuable than baseball
cards.
I think I've got a few left over if they want
them back. They should be
useful as spares for some keypunch or other.
There is an active thread on the list about how to desolder chips.
How do you keep them from burning?
They may burn even without being heated. I've one Compucorp 40 column
card that has it's edges burnt off. At least I think I still have it.
it's not quite as far gone as the old Woolworth's binder paper that
somehow managed to stick around since high school. Apparently it's got
quite a bit of acid in it: Excellent for certain types of legal
documents and other hot topics.
Do keypunch machines start with lace cards and glue chips in?
Wouldn't you have to refill the chip box pretty often?
Lace and chips do tend to get quite attached to each other. Even
without any solder. Knits, too.
==
jd
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