Info on things old wanted...

From: Jeff Kaneko <Jeff.Kaneko_at_ifrsys.com>
Date: Mon Oct 27 08:02:52 1997

William Donzelli wrote:
>
> Punched card technology was well established well before what we think of
> as the first electronic computers - ENIAC, the ABC machine, etc.. IBM, of
> course, was the biggie in the field (and oddly enough, entered the
> computing business a bit late), starting sometime in the 1930s.
>

I read somewhere that IBM patented the first multiple-word
cardpuncher in 1919. It could punch nine columns at a time. The
photograph showed that the thing used levers that reminded me of the
credit-card embossers used at gas stations.


Jeff
Received on Mon Oct 27 1997 - 08:02:52 GMT