Display-less computing

[Mike Boyle]

On Tue, Dec 15, 2015 at 12:11 PM, Fred Cisin <cisin at xenosoft.com> wrote:

> I've only ever seen them called "12" and "11" for the top and next
>>>> rows respectively.  For example, the card code listing on the IBM 360
>>>> "green card" shows them that way (e.g., A is 12-1).
>>>>
>>> Same here.  But it's not outside the range of possibility that *someone*
>>> called them X and Y, although I don't know who did.  Doug Jones doesn't
>>> mention it.
>>>
>>
> On Tue, 15 Dec 2015, Dave Wade wrote:
>
>> I have seen ICT punches labelled this way. There is one here where "X" and
>> "Y" have been manually added.
>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keypunch#/media/File:Hand-operated_Card_Punch-
>> 2.jpg
>> I think the one I own is labelled....
>>
>
> In my experience, they were called 'X'/'Y', or "12"/"11", but there were
> occasional other names, even "high"/"low".   Since the cards were not
> marked, people could come up with all sorts of other cockamamie choices.
>
> > Let's not forget the System/3 96-column cards.  BA8421 (sort of like >
>> 7-track mag tape), with a really wacky way to combine the columns to > make
>> 8-bit bytes.
>> > Univac, of course, had their own system with their double-45 column >
>> system, round holes and all.
>>
>
> There were "window" cards that carried a piece of micro-fiche.  Were the
> makers of those aware of Gldberg's "Rapid-Selector" and/or Vannevar Bush's
> Memex?  (Both of which were motion picture film based microfilm with
> optical reading of dot patterns for selection)
>
> There were even punched cards that also carried a mag-stripe (a
> transitional device?)
> I even saw some crude attempts to implement McBee edge sort - set of holes
> around the perimeter that were linked or not linked with a slot to the
> edge; poke a knitting needle through the hole(s) and see which ones shook
> out.   Some also carried "normal" punched card data punched on them.
> Only once did I see a "multi-value" system - multiple holes punched in a
> column, and edge slot going varying number of holes deep - "I want a value
> of greater than or equal 3": poke the needle through 3, and 3, 2, and 1
> would all shake out.
>
> My father claimed that the use of round holes on divergent cards was due
> to an attempt by IBM to patent the shape of the hole in the cards.  He also
> thought that the development of optical card readers was significantly
> boosted along by an IBM attempt to patent use of a brass roller.
>
> For "The National Driving Test" (CBS 1966?), he had a sample MAIL back
> port-a-punch (pre-perfed alternate columns) cards!
> IBM succeeded in reading them!  But, IBM's statistical programming
> resulted in our whole family starting to learn FORTRAN the next day.
>
>


-- 
I would love to have a micro and all of the 70 and 80- 87 Honda Motorcycle
parts! The old ATC's Gotta Love em!