I never used paper tape, but I wrote many a program using cards.
I learned to draw a diagonal line on top of the deck with a magic marker in case of a drop.

I did get to use the old IBM teletype before terminals came into use.
BTAM, then TCAM, then VTAM.

As I mentioned earlier, my first computer worked on was an IBM 650, which was in a couple of modules about the size of 2 refrigerators each, plus ancillary items (card reader, card punch, printer). The biggest one I ever worked with with the IBM AN/FSQ-7 SAGE computer--the largest (physical size) computer ever built. It occupied 3 floors of a 1-acre Direction Center building, if one counted everything involved (power and a/c were separate). Inside each DC were two CPUs, each one measuring 7,500 sq ft and consisting of 60,000 vacuum tubes, 175,000 diodes, 13,000 newfangled transistors, and 272KB of magnetic core RAM, consuming a total of 3MW of power and weighing in at 250 tons. It was BIG! Even though state of the art back in the 1960s, its computing power was not much more than that of a Commodore 64, but the extent of its human interface was enormous--150 CRT display consoles with people manning them and interacting with the machine in real time. You can read more about the system here: https://www.extremetech.com/co...-computer-ever-built. It had a card reader, but primary program input was via 1/2-inch magnetic tape.

flashguy

When I started with IBM in 78,one account had a 2671 paper tape reader attached to a main frame. Worked on it a couple times,it was actually a better roach nest. It was some union shop in midtown Manhattan..

10MB Hard Drive, circa 1960’s and a 1TB from today.

I remember in the later 1970's our firm did a lab remodel, put in a ~400 sq ft computer room for the DEC PDP's, raised floor for the dedicated air conditioning, separate power meter/circuit breaker box -- total computer power less than a run-of-the-mill smartphone today.

quote:

Originally posted by tanner:
10MB Hard Drive, circa 1960’s and a 1TB from today.

first real job I had was as a produce clerk in a grocery store,

we were one of the first stores in the area to be built with scanners at the registers,

cutting edge stuff for 1980


the computers (primary and backup)that ran the registers was as big as a refrigerator, and had a disc like that in each one,


the primary hard drive crashed on day, whatever that thing used for a 'needle' or reader drug on the disc,

it was a horrible loud squealing noise, that suddenly stopped

took the IBM guy all morning to replace it,

quote:

Originally posted by Hobbs:

20yr Naval career (1986-2006)

I fondly recall the help you extended for my old laptop Linux conversion as well as our commiserating about our Navy computer experiences. (Me with the AN/YUK-5V and card-reader-punch; took my Naval commission in 1974 after having 6 years of enlisted Army time).
https://sigforum.com/eve/forums...935/m/5390022154/p/3

Looking at this thread- We did a lot with what would be considered little compared to todays technologies.

It seems in comparison today we do little with a lot of amazing technologies.

Punch cards here for Fortran programs in the early to mid '70s.......

Uh .. .

Anyone remember that MVS utilities tape, originally put out by the Air Force and then taken over by Connecticut Bank and Trust? It was called 'The CBT Tape' after that. It had a lot of useful tools on it. I contributed a TSO Rexx program that could read VSAM files, allowing for the creation of ISPF apps that could use that data.

Ah yes, the fond memories of IBM punch cards and the young ladies who keyed them. The onset of TSO spelled the end of these fine creatures. Back in the mid '70s while working at a large government agency, it was not unusual to stumble upon one of our Operations Staff members and a Key Punch girl behind an air conditioning unit vigorously engaged in non-connubial bliss.

quote:

Originally posted by MG34_Dan:
Ah yes, the fond memories of IBM punch cards and the young ladies who keyed them.
<snip>

Ah, yes, those keypunch ladies. My first post-college job was at Control Data Corp. There was a sizable room with a dozen of ‘em in there, operating IBM 029s. It had a glass wall so you could see ‘em as you walked past in the hall.

And those girls had buffered I/O! It was common to see several of ‘em chatting on the phone, cradled on their shoulders, while punching card rapidly and accurately. They had a hard-wired connection from eyes to fingers.

quote:

Originally posted by senza nome:
Uh .. .

I have one of those sitting atop my piano right now! I use it to punch Tone Cards for my Allen electronic organ.

flashguy