Slashdot Mirror
Electronic Abacus
yoey writes: "Blast from the past in an article at the Economist: There are those who do not believe in the desirability of introducing anything as esoteric as electronics into business routine at all. Others believe that there is a limited field for electronic methods, provided that they fit into, and do not disrupt, established business systems. But there is a third group ... who consider that a major revolution in office methods may be possible. This revolution would involve scrapping the greater part of the established punch card calculating routine and substituting a single 'electronic office' where the giant computor [sic] would perform internally all the calculations needed for a whole series of book-keeping operations, printing the final answer in and on whatever form was required."
this "computor" will never come close to the slide rule in efficiency, simplicity, and elegance. The slide rule will never be replaced by such a monstrous contraption. Besides, it really impresses the babes when displayed prominently in my breast pocket. ;-P
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
where the giant computor [sic]
Has [sic] ever appeared before in a Slashdot article? That amazed me. Granted, it was put there by the submitter, not an editor, but still that's pretty amazing.
Good morning, Dave. What are you doing?
I have to go to the bathroom.
You've already been twice this morning, Dave. Perhaps you should cut down on the coffee.
Hal, let me in. I really have to go!
I'm sorry, Dave, but I can't let you do that. Please go back to your desk.
etc.
their computor has no speall chekor.
Oh, that's fine for miniature models, I suppose. I carry mine in a scabbard on my back.
/janne
Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
IBM has come out with a machine that can do the work of 20 office clerks. The only problem is it takes 50 technicians to operate it.
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
Viruses weren't a big concern in those days. Maybe the trojanned computer could punch multiple copies of the program onto cards, but tricking the staffers into mailing them to other computer centers was difficult... 8-)