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My dad was a math professor (he was really a computer nerd, but there was no "computer nerd" course of study back then). Down the hall from his office there was

My dad was a math professor (he was really a computer nerd, but there was no "computer nerd" course of study back then). Down the hall from his office there was a room with a variety of toys in it, including an IBM 029 [1] which was great fun for me to play with as a kid. (It was noisy and you could make your very own cards you could keep!) Although the card punch was still operational, nobody really used it at that point since interactive terminals had taken over. The computing center had a seemingly infinite supply of cards, and many of them made their way home. My mom to this day (over 40 years later) still uses punch cards as note paper. Good memories. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keypunch#IBM_029_Card_Punch https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keypunch#IBM_029_Card_Punch

toast0 4y ago
> My mom to this day (over 40 years later) still uses punch cards as note paper. Good memories. My mom ran out of punch card note pages, sadly. They're a real nice size for taking notes.
danielodievich 4y ago
My educated grandma was a physicist in USSR who coded on punch cards who brought home her programs for note taking. I've taken so many notes on those, learning how to write around the holes. Weirdly enough I found one of her cards in some box that we brought here to USA and gave it to my wife, she has it in her art supplies. That thing is like 70 years old, and I love looking at it!
mgdlbp 4y ago
> IBM 029 demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnnGbcM-H8c&list=PL-_93BVApb59yIG2RELONEYOzJ3lMXsqV&index=10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnnGbcM-H8c&list=PL-_93BVApb... 1968 instructional video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fVRGQT1CoM&t=21s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fVRGQT1CoM&t=21s
dmd 4y ago
My wife (digital archivist at the MIT Museum) and I sent out our wedding invitations on punched cards.
davelondon 4y ago
Same! If you wanted a piece of scrap paper in my house (Dad worked at IBM), a fresh box of used punch cards was never far away.

toast0 4y ago

> My mom to this day (over 40 years later) still uses punch cards as note paper. Good memories. My mom ran out of punch card note pages, sadly. They're a real nice size for taking notes.

danielodievich 4y ago

My educated grandma was a physicist in USSR who coded on punch cards who brought home her programs for note taking. I've taken so many notes on those, learning how to write around the holes. Weirdly enough I found one of her cards in some box that we brought here to USA and gave it to my wife, she has it in her art supplies. That thing is like 70 years old, and I love looking at it!

mgdlbp 4y ago

> IBM 029 demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnnGbcM-H8c&list=PL-_93BVApb59yIG2RELONEYOzJ3lMXsqV&index=10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnnGbcM-H8c&list=PL-_93BVApb... 1968 instructional video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fVRGQT1CoM&t=21s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fVRGQT1CoM&t=21s

dmd 4y ago

My wife (digital archivist at the MIT Museum) and I sent out our wedding invitations on punched cards.

davelondon 4y ago

Same! If you wanted a piece of scrap paper in my house (Dad worked at IBM), a fresh box of used punch cards was never far away.