The Cards
Flowchart Tools
About Punch, or Hollerith, Cards.
From before the invention of digital computers until the
late 1970s, punch cards were the standard input method for
most computers, for both programs and data.
Here's
a short history on their origins.
Here's another
page with cards.
Finally, you can usually find something related to punch cards
and associated technology at The Computer Musem's
web display site.
How did these guys see where they were going?
With advanced visulaization
tools, of course. More on visualization tool symbology
in the index column.
Why a punch card page on the WWW?
Because even the newest cards are
running up on 20 years old and beginning to get brittle.
Because my kids hadn't a clue about the Bad Old Days.
Because I was really bored one Thursday evening.
More to come?
Sure, as they turn up around my house, marking significant pages
in books I haven't read in 15 years.
Do you have any laying around? Anything unusual or unique?
Send a scan and I'll put up along with the others. JPEG
prefered, but most common formats are OK. Don't have a scanner?
E-mail me, we can make some snail-
mail arrangements.
Who actually used these things?
Why,
Real Programmers, of course.
On
Real Computers.