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interesting Ebay find, old programming template - Printable Version

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interesting Ebay find, old programming template - Don Shepherd - 04-15-2020 07:34 PM

This is an interesting computer history artifact I found on Ebay, a plastic programming template for preparing flowcharts from the mid-1950's. Any computer programmer who worked during this period (and following decades) had to prepare flowcharts as part of documenting his/her programs. During my career, I accumulated about a dozen templates, most of them the standard green IBM model. This unit is the grand-daddy of them all, since it comes from the era when computer "programming" began.

From its condition, it appears it was never used (some of mine are cracked and one has white-out all over it). The envelope it came in refers to several models of IBM computers that were present in the mid-1950's: 700 series, 650, 305 RAMAC, and punched card machines. It contains several scales for printing positions, punch card columns, IBM interpreter column spacing, etc.

What a blast from the past.


RE: interesting Ebay find, old programming template - Massimo Gnerucci - 04-15-2020 08:42 PM

(04-15-2020 07:34 PM)Don Shepherd Wrote:  This is an interesting computer history artifact I found on Ebay, a plastic programming template for preparing flowcharts from the mid-1950's. Any computer programmer who worked during this period (and following decades) had to prepare flowcharts as part of documenting his/her programs. During my career, I accumulated about a dozen templates, most of them the standard green IBM model. This unit is the grand-daddy of them all, since it comes from the era when computer "programming" began.

From its condition, it appears it was never used (some of mine are cracked and one has white-out all over it). The envelope it came in refers to several models of IBM computers that were present in the mid-1950's: 700 series, 650, 305 RAMAC, and punched card machines. It contains several scales for printing positions, punch card columns, IBM interpreter column spacing, etc.

What a blast from the past.

Thank you Don. I am sure I kept a few of them since then but I cannot locate them anymore, buried inside my 'chaos hill'. :)


RE: interesting Ebay find, old programming template - toml_12953 - 04-16-2020 12:45 AM

(04-15-2020 07:34 PM)Don Shepherd Wrote:  This is an interesting computer history artifact I found on Ebay, a plastic programming template for preparing flowcharts from the mid-1950's.

Artifact? I use mine every day! Mine was from the S/360 era, though.