Punched Cards

[Si modo]

Who is old enough to remember punched cards for entering FORTRAN programs? Samson and I have been fondly (not quite) reminiscing about those suckers.

What did you do with your cards when your project was finished?

I went to the top floor of the entymology building on a breezy evening and tossed mine out with some of my pals, after drinking a few pitchers with others, of course.

Before we tossed the cards, though, we found a lifesize poster of Aldo (chilla Cella guy) and of a Marine (named him Eugene the Marine) from the recruiting office; posed with both. After the cards took a leap, so did Aldo and Eugene. They soared!

It was cathartic.

So, let's hear card frustrations.

 

[uscitizen]

I remember punched paper tape, and then moving to mylar tape.
And yep programmed in Fortran.
We had to shred our cards.

 

[Luissa]

Was this an 80's thing?

 

[Baruch Menachem]

Punched cards went out two terms before my first computer class.

And we coded in Pascal.

But I remember the paper tape from high school. Also, the darn cards were ubiquitous back then. Everything was on them.

 

[uscitizen]

The first computer I ever worked on was all relays and rotary switches.
But we had moved past steam power at that point.

 

[Rat in the Hat]

Who is old enough to remember punched cards for entering FORTRAN programs? Samson and I have been fondly (not quite) reminiscing about those suckers.

What did you do with your cards when your project was finished?

I went to the top floor of the entymology building on a breezy evening and tossed mine out with some of my pals, after drinking a few pitchers with others, of course.

Before we tossed the cards, though, we found a lifesize poster of Aldo (chilla Cella guy) and of a Marine (named him Eugene the Marine) from the recruiting office; posed with both. After the cards took a leap, so did Aldo and Eugene. They soared!

It was cathartic.

So, let's hear card frustrations.

Damn, I remember those suckers. Spending a week to punch enough cards to add 2 + 2. And waiting another week to get enough mainframe time to run it. Then having to find an empty box to store them in, in case my teacher wanted me to do it again.

The joys of 1970's I T. Those were the days. (not)

 

[JW Frogen]

Who is old enough to remember punched cards for entering FORTRAN programs? Samson and I have been fondly (not quite) reminiscing about those suckers.

Stay away from her Sampson or I will kill you where you stand!!!!!!!!!!! (Please tell me you are not confined to a wheel chair?)

And correct me if I am wrong, but did not computers evolve in a darwinian hot house from calculaters and fax machines?

Humankind takes credit for everything!!!!!

 

[strollingbones]

o hell...asu had one huge ass computer..took up an entire room..ran on punched cards....you had to compete for time on it...one of the math professors was doing research into prime numbers....he would be there for days on end...regardless of who was signed up for time...i dont think i ever got a completed project....on punched cards....

 

[Mr Natural]

Was this an 80's thing?

My first programming class was PL/1 using punch cards back in the '70s.

 

[Mr. H.]

I went to the top floor of the entymology building on a breezy evening and tossed mine out with some of my pals, after drinking a few pitchers with others, of course.

Before we tossed the cards, though, we found a lifesize poster of Aldo (chilla Cella guy) and of a Marine (named him Eugene the Marine) from the recruiting office; posed with both. After the cards took a leap, so did Aldo and Eugene. They soared!

It was cathartic.

So, let's hear card frustrations.

That's hilarious. Yeah I used to punch and run stacks of those things, then proofread the printouts. I did appreciate the logic of it all. 1974 I think it was.

My last day of college I would get the prof's attention at the end of each class, walk to the window and throw my textbook out. They just about shit until I laughed and told them I had bought the book. I remember writing on a chalkboard "SCHOOL'S OUT FOREVER". Happiest day of my life.

 

[Ringel05]

Never used the cards myself but saw them everywhere. i did take a basic computer class which taught us DOS Shell just as it became obsolescent.

 

[Si modo]

I went to the top floor of the entymology building on a breezy evening and tossed mine out with some of my pals, after drinking a few pitchers with others, of course.

Before we tossed the cards, though, we found a lifesize poster of Aldo (chilla Cella guy) and of a Marine (named him Eugene the Marine) from the recruiting office; posed with both. After the cards took a leap, so did Aldo and Eugene. They soared!

It was cathartic.

So, let's hear card frustrations.

That's hilarious. Yeah I used to punch and run stacks of those things, then proofread the printouts. I did appreciate the logic of it all. 1974 I think it was.

My last day of college I would get the prof's attention at the end of each class, walk to the window and throw my textbook out. They just about shit until I laughed and told them I had bought the book. I remember writing on a chalkboard "SCHOOL'S OUT FOREVER". Happiest day of my life.

LOL. We loved Aldo. And, Eugene we had for a week before that night. We had to sleep in 'dorms' that were like barracks in the sorority house...just rows and rows of bunk beds (the rooms in the house were for our desks and clothes). So, when it got dark and we knew a sister was going to be up late, we would put Eugene in her bunk and remake the bunk. Many a sister were scared to death upon hittting the sack only to find saluting Eugene staring up at her when she pulled the covers down.

That was a frustrating semester to say the least.

 

[uscitizen]

Never used the cards myself but saw them everywhere. i did take a basic computer class which taught us DOS Shell just as it became obsolescent.

Never used command prompt in windows?
It is also still used behind the scenes.

 

[Mr. H.]

 

[boedicca]

We used to make Christmas Wreaths out of the old cards. Spray painted in a colorful selection - VV Attractive.

I worked at Doe Library as an undergrad at Berkeley. The circulation records were kept on punch cards. I had the privilege of running the big machine to sort them. What a racket!

 

[Si modo]

We used to make Christmas Wreaths out of the old cards. Spray painted in a colorful selection - VV Attractive.

I worked at Doe Library as an undergrad at Berkeley. The circulation records were kept on punch cards. I had the privilege of running the big machine to sort them. What a racket!

Undergrad at Berkeley???? YOU???? How did you turn out on the side of the good guys?

 

[Ringel05]

Never used the cards myself but saw them everywhere. i did take a basic computer class which taught us DOS Shell just as it became obsolescent.

Never used command prompt in windows?
It is also still used behind the scenes.

No. I thought they replaced it. Oh well