Relic

I discovered this relic, a torn fragment of an IBM punchcard. It is my oldest computing artifact.





This is a JCL control card that was put at the top of a deck of punched cards. It was the first card in your program, it had “Job Control Language” instructions that told the computer how to run your program, and who the program belonged to. This card says


$JOB “CENTRAL JR. HIGH– C.EICHER”,KP-29,TIME=3,PAGES=10


This card is from my first computer programming class, back in junior high school, circa 1970. The card has suffered with age, the end is torn off, the punches are ripped and damaged, and the printing at the top is fading. But it is still a precious relic that reminds me of a time when I was young and had unlimited potential.

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© Copyright 2016 Charles Eicher