That new fad - Data Processing

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cadman

cadman

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With all this talk of "computers" and "the internet", I figured I better acquaint myself with the latest in Data Processing before I get left behind!

Behold, the IBM 083! Now I can sort my punchcards at 1000 per minute. Take that, 082!

Yeah, she'll need some work before the 230V connection is made. Best to replace the caps in the power supply and see if I can track down a couple replacement belts for broken originals (lots of rubber parts in this machine). I do have the panels not shown in the pics, but we pulled them for transport. Thing easily weighs more than a Bendix combo!

cadman++9-27-2013-08-45-39.jpg
 
We used those when I took "Data Processing" in college, which was my minor. Int he very first course we took the teacher required us to be able to "read" a card by just holding it up to a light as not all 80 column cards had the printing across the top. He said it was a skill we'd always be able to use. Ten years later video terminals came around so reading cards was obsolete.

We called this type of equipment "Unit Record" equipment and in a later course we learned how to program the various wires on the boards that go into the machines.

I think all you need now is an "Accounting Machine" to make reports based on your computer cards that you sorted with the card sorter.
 
punchcards!

OMG this is exactly what I had in High School data processing classes. I stayed in computers for 34 years and saw many changes. I kinda wish we still had punchcards
Lol LOl
Peter
 
Good lord those things are ancient.

And I'm a bit embarrassed to note that I had a summer job in college in the early 1970's where part of my duties was to punch cards on such a machine. As I recall, it was simple scientific data entry... but I didn't have a clue back then how the thing worked, or, really what I was doing. All I know is that they were able, after some fudging, to use the cards I punched. It was a work study job in an agricultural department. It involved a lot of waiting around watching other people work. The card punching was actually the closest to real work the job involved, lol.
 
That's a cool piece of history. I remember going to work with my mother at the bank once and touring the data center where they used punch cards - the room was soundproofed to keep the roar outside the room to a minimum.

Our gas and water bill was on a punch card that was mailed back with the payment, always wondered about the processing and how it was all kept straight in the accounting department. Ooh, the wonders of newfangled living!
 
I recognize some of those small relays. They're used with some of the Dover elevator controllers. That machine reminds me of the paper collators used in the school printing classes I took.
 
Our gas and water bill was on a punch card that was mailed back with the payment, always wondered about the processing and how it was all kept straight in the accounting department. Ooh, the wonders of newfangled living!

Some department stores used punched cards mixed in with the credit card receipt you signed when making a credit purchase. After they tore off your receipt they'd send the punched cards to the data processing department. After sorting on a sorter like the one pictured here they would use an IBM 3525 Card Punch/Reader machine to read the cards into the computer system. And when bills were sent out you mailed back a punched card with your check. Anyway lots of people would staple, paper clip, etc.these cards. And the IBM 3525 would not like that at all.

It would mess up the read heads which were not optical. How do I know this all? I once new a guy who was an IBM CE (customer engineer) which also stood for repair man. In Chicago's downtown alone there were enough 3525's in use to employ 10 guys just to work on those 3525's, mostly 3rd shift when most of the work was done. Retail stores, banks, corporate data centers had a bunch of them. I think the 3525 was in use until about 1982 or so when key to mag tape entries became popular.
 
Yes Petek made the Christmas wreath and also the Christmas tress from them. Made lots of thee and also a tree for a door.
 
Lookout Hallmark!

Cadman, that is way cool.   You  could make "retro" greeting and Christmas cards and maybe a fortune.  Arthur
 
Punching Cards

I remember Keypunch Operator positions being ubiquitous in the help wanted classifieds back in the day.  A skill somewhat less useful today than the shorthand I learned in high school.
 
For my first year of computer science at university I used punch cards on a Cyber ???, programming in Pascal. I remember standing in line waiting to put my punch card deck into the card reader and then waiting for the paper printout. Sometimes I had to carry a large box of punch cards. You just hoped that you did not drop the box! In 2nd year we graduated to CRT on a VAX programming in Cobol.

Gary
 
At some large companies some computer jobs may have had up to 35 TRAYS of cards to be read in before the job could start running. Let a card tear or rip halfway through you'd have to reproduce the card and start reading all over again. And for most it would usually happen in trays 30-34.
 

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