IBM Punched Card Typography

http://www.masswerk.at/misc/card-punch-typography/

by masswerk • 9 years ago

146 10 9 years ago

kens• 9 years ago

Very interesting article. Stepping back, you might wonder why the keypunch uses a metal plate to hold the character bitmaps rather than a ROM or something sensible. Remember that the 026 keypunch was introduced in 1949, so there wasn't really a convenient way to store bits. It's actually pretty clever to use bumps on a metal plate to drive the printing.

The other side of this is how they stored the mapping from keys to hole patterns, with each key punching 0 to 3 holes. This was also done mechanically. Each key moved a lever ("bail") with tabs, and the tabs trip contacts that cause the right holes to be punched. But in between is a bunch of relay-based logic to handle shifting for special characters, numeric keypad mode, and so forth.

If you want to try out a 026 keypunch yourself, go to the Computer History Museum in Mountain View CA when they are demoing the IBM 1401.

anseljh2• 9 years ago

Don't forget the typography on the SS's IBM Hollerith punch cards, too. Scroll down, 2nd to last image. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/ibm-and-quot-death-s-cal...

sverige• 9 years ago

From this reference: "Solipsistic and dazzled by its own swirling universe of technical possibilities, IBM was self-gripped by a special amoral corporate mantra: if it can be done, it should be done. To the blind technocrat, the means were more important than the ends."

How much this sounds like Silicon Valley today.

Retra• 9 years ago

If it can be done someone will eventually do it. Make sure you do it first, or your enemies/competitors will do it first.

It's really just a rational survival principle.

agumonkey• 9 years ago

While we're at it, I just discovered https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anophthalmus_hitleri

Now a collectable for the potential "fan" ..

tilt_error• 9 years ago

Not to mention https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neopalpa_donaldtrumpi

brotherAB• 9 years ago

Holocaust nostalgia? I'll pass. This Teleindicadores font achieves a similar effect, looks better, and it's in the public domain. I once converted it to a web font, and used it on my website for a few years. https://fontlibrary.org/en/font/teleindicadores-1

anseljh2• 9 years ago

Nope. Typography was an excellent vessel for a history lesson here.

IBM Punched Card Typography

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