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>> ... recall playing with punch cards in the 1960s ... And I recall still using/seeing them in the early 1980s here in UK! They were still heavily used at th

• Erwin 15y ago
  They still are used, but just in a digital form. We interface with some unnamed software that requires you to recode data into 80 columns, 12 possible values per word (encoded as 12 usable bits within 2 8-bit bytes -- and only one bit can be set per word). That turns some fixed-width layout into 80-column groups, with e.g. the requirement that the last 2 columns contain the card number, and the first 4 some record ID. There isn't even any meta-data for that file, so someone out there must be sitting connected to a mainframe and punching in what card 1, position 5-7 contains US State ID or somesuch, before running the cards.
  • draegtun 15y ago
    In the Market Research industry (here) this is still pretty much the de-facto standard for sending digital data between agencies! This continues to remain unchanged by time because the leading Market Research tool [1] still prefers to use data with 80 columns, 12 multiple values per col (0-9, & and -) with optional multi cards (card numbers can be in any columns and any length). [1] Software is called Quantum. Originally developed in the 1970s !