[OT] paper on Retro ?

From: Ron Hudson <rhudson_at_cnonline.net>
Date: Sun Oct 20 18:27:00 2002

On Sunday, October 20, 2002, at 04:07 PM, Gary Oliver wrote:
>
> I seem to recall seeing some (non IBM) key-to-disk machines that
> operated
> like a keypunch but it produced one card image per sector on those 8
> inch
> floppies. Anyone know who made these? Was it IBM and if so, what was
> the equipment designation?
>
Near 1980, I worked for CETA a federally run job training / placement
operation. I help train people in Data Entry/Keypunch. We had about 8
of these machines (and two card punches too)

Tab made one of them, two users would sit facing each other, each with
their own 8" drive to their right, 4x80 screen in front was actually
1/2 of a crt displayed with mirrors, They must have had two character
sets because the information displayed on the screen is upside-down
with relation to the other operator.

You could program these machine the same way you can program later
cardpunches, with fields that duplicate and numeric fields and alpha
fields, These machine could add new records or verify existing records.
Received on Sun Oct 20 2002 - 18:27:00 BST