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The Last of the Punch Card Programmers

Posted by samzenpus on from the back-to-basics dept.

Peter Cus writes "Cluny Lace, an English lacemaking manufacturer, has reverted to 19th-Century Leavers machines in order to stay competitive. These 19th-Century machines use Jacquard punch cards. Ian Elm, thought to be the last of the card punchers, says young people don't want factory work: 'Younger people coming into a trade want a guarantee of a career out of it, and this is so uncertain.'"

1 of 149 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Hard to believe by MoonBuggy · · Score: 5, Informative

    The article mentions exactly that - they say that the modern computer driven machines don't produce lace of the same quality.

    I don't doubt that we could build modern machines to emulate the Victorian ones perfectly, but it's quite possibly cheaper to just keep the old ones going for such a niche product, especially when the current computer-driven machines apparently make lace 'good enough' for most purposes.