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An IBM 80-column punched card of the type most widely used in the 20th century IBM 1442 card reader/punch for 80 column cards. A computer punched card reader or just computer card reader is a computer input device used to read computer programs in either source or executable form and data from punched cards.
Cost or availability of equipment was another factor; for example in 1965 an IBM 1620 computer did not have a printer as standard equipment, so it was normal in such installations to punch output onto cards and then print these cards on an IBM 407 accounting machine. Specialized uses of punched cards such as toll collection, microform aperture ...
These cards (e.g., a JCL "JOB" card to start a new job) were often pre-punched in large quantities in advance. [1] This was especially useful when the main computer did not read the cards directly, but instead read their images from magnetic tape that was prepared offline by smaller computers such as the IBM 1401. After reading the cards in ...
Cards with a particular punch could be treated as master cards causing different behavior. For example, customer master cards could be merged with sorted cards recording individual items purchased. When read by the tabulating machine to create invoices, the billing address and customer number would be printed from the master card, and then ...
As an aid to humans who had to deal with the punched cards, the IBM 026 and later 029 and 129 key punch machines could print human-readable text above each of the 80 columns. Invalid "lace cards" such as this pose mechanical problems for card readers. As a prank, punched cards could be made where every possible punch position had a hole.
The 407 read punched cards, totaled fields on the cards, made simple decisions, printed results, and, with the aid of a summary punch, output results on punched cards that could be input to other processing steps. The operation of the 407 was directed by the use of a removable control panel and a carriage tape.
Transcription machines have continued to change with the times. They are still mostly used with cassette tapes, as this is the cheapest way to make them, and the cassette on the other hand offers an easy and durable hard copy. However, more transcription machines are being manufactured as digital.
The IBM 519 Document-Originating Machine, introduced in 1946, was the last in a series of unit record machines designed for automated preparation of punched cards. Others in the series included the IBM 513 & IBM 514 Reproducing Punch. The 519, which was "state of the art for the time", [1] could: reproduce all or parts of the information on a ...