[GreenKeys] OT: New coffee-table book on punched cards

[Bruce Gentry]

I have an older  Allen electronic organ that uses IBM punch cards to 
load waveforms for various  voices. Years ago we would enter sounds from 
any punch cards we could find, especially utility  and telephone bills. 
Usually the result was raucus, but occasionnally a card would give a 
surprisingly good sound. Today, Allen owners duplicate and swap favorite 
cards because they are no longer made and blank ones are  not easy to 
find. I think there are a few people making them with laser cutters. 
Finding a punch  machine that slipped through the cracks would be neat too.

     Bruce Gentry, KA2IVY


On 2/12/20 12:30 AM, Harold Hallikainen wrote:
> Looks like a nice book! I was recently looking at early hard drive
> information and read that IBM did not want the capacity of the hard drives
> to get too high because it would compete with the punched card business.
>
> I remember getting various things on punched cards. An IRS tax refund
> check was a punched card. When I first registered for college classes,
> we'd wander around the gym collecting a card for each class we wanted to
> take. We'd turn the stack in with our student card at the end to get
> assigned to classes. The phone bill from Pacific Telephone also came with
> a punched card to return with your check.
>
>
> Looks like a great book. Thanks for sharing!
>
> Harold
>
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>