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When PC Still Means 'Punch Card'

Posted by michael on from the do-not-fold-spindle-or-mutilate dept.

ricst writes: "The New York Times reports that there are stll many applications that use punchcards. "Use what?", you say. Slashdotters not yet in their dotage may have never seen these 80 column Hollerith field cards, or the clunky machines that are still used to punch holes in them. And let's not forget the bizarre JCL (Job Control Language) that's needed to be at the front of the deck. Well... turns out many companies still use them, with slight modifications (like the airlines that print a magnetic strip on them)."

8 of 446 comments (clear)

  1. oh yeah... by doooras · · Score: 5, Funny

    after enough holes get punched in your card you get a free sandwich, right?

  2. .net? by hex1848 · · Score: 4, Funny

    heh,

    /me wonders if the .net interpreter can handle punch cards along with the 87 other languages it claims to be able to compile

  3. I see by felipeal · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...that there are stll many applications that use punchcards.

    Like the state-of-art US ellection system...

  4. Re:this is one of my problems with 'geeks'. by 2Bits · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hey dude, upgrading for the sake of upgrading is how you make the economy move. Beside, the US president is asking people to go out and spend money, it's an act of patriotism.

  5. Airman Initiation... by phraktyl · · Score: 5, Funny

    This reminds me of my Air Force days, when I heard many stories of how the Data Center admins would bring in a large bag of chad and dump it on the table in front of the new guy. They would make him sort it into Classified and Unclassified piles, with the Classified chad being anything with a marking on it. After several hours of tedious work, someone would run by and the breeze would mix it all back together on the table, making the poor Airman do it all over...

    I was told that very few realized that they could just treat it *all* as Classified, and burn it. Heh.

    --
    Karma: Marginal (mostly due to the border around the website)
  6. Free Punch Cards by TheMatt · · Score: 4, Funny

    Can't believe I didn't see this link: Free Punch Cards. I especially love the graphical punch your own card.

    --

    Fortran programmer...oh yeah. Array math for life!

  7. why is this story posted so late? by brer_rabbit · · Score: 4, Funny

    I mean, anyone who relates to this story is probably in bed asleep already. ;)

  8. Great Joke by Peridriga · · Score: 4, Funny


    O OOOO O O OO O OO O OO OOO OO
    OO OO OOO O OOOO OOOOO O OO O OOO
    OO OO O O OOO OOO OO O OOO O O
    O0O000O00O0 O O O OOOOO O O OOOOO
    OOO O OO OOO OOOO OO OO O OO OOO
    OO O OO O OOO OOO O O OOOOO O OO
    O O OOOOOO O O OO0O000 O O OOO OO


    I've always loved that joke....