Vintage Computer Festival wrote:
>On Sun, 9 May 2004, William Donzelli wrote:
>
>
>>>The "first" key-to-tape. A pretty useful device, really, for that era.
>>>Tap data directly to tape and then load it onto the mainframe.
>>>
>>>
>>Are you sure it was the "first" (good use of Quites, by the way)? I am
>>pretty sure IBM had them for some time.
>>
>>
>Which is why I use quotes :) I've been around long enough to know you
>rarely (if ever) claim anything is the "first" of anything. This is as
>far as I know, without having researched it in depth. If you know of an
>earlier IBM product then I'd like to know about it.
>
>
ISTR reading somewhere that UNIVAC had these well before most other
companies.
[ Sounds of rummaging around google]
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/people/randy.carpenter/folklore/v5n1.html :
No punched card devices were provided with the UNIVAC, so the
UNITYPER data entry machine was
developed. The data entry clerk typed on a keyboard, and the UNITYPER
recorded the values on a reel
of metal tape. This lack of integration with punched card systems
became a marketing handicap. Many
prospective customers already had significant investment in
tabulating card systems. When IBM entered
the computer business, it made sure that it offered computers that
fit easily into existing card processing
installations. To fill this gap, Eckert-Mauchly developed a
stand-alone card-to-tape unit, which could
process 100 cards per minute. Since Eckert-Mauchly was an independent
company at the time the design
of the card-to-tape converter was done, it naturally followed the
market and built a machine that handled
IBM's 80-column cards. Sometime after the acquisition by Remington
Rand, a version to handle 90-column
cards was developed.
That would have to be in the early 50's....
-- HansP
Received on Mon May 10 2004 - 01:55:30 BST