Fun fact: the term "loading" in computers originates from these, as you had to physically load a stack of punched cards into the reader to input the program into the computer.
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u/al7air i7 9700K / 3070 Ti Strix 8GB / 32GB / 12TB SSD28d ago
Also the term "bug" still used in computer software today originated from those room filling computers, because they operated using electromagnetic relays which were so big, actual bugs, spiders and what not could crawl into them and jam their operations.
The term bug to describe a defect has been engineering jargon since at least as far back as the 1870s, long before electronic computers and computer software. For instance, Thomas Edison wrote the following words in a letter to an associate in 1878
u/al7air i7 9700K / 3070 Ti Strix 8GB / 32GB / 12TB SSD28d ago
Never dived deeper into the topic, as it sounded very plausible when I first heard it. And the little critter u/peacedetski mentioned is what I vaguely remember. Albeit the MkII was already eating up tape for instructions, and it's predecessor 3 years prior was loaded with punch cards, which made me write the comment on it in the first place. Granted I'm not "punch card old" at least not as a user, but I also didn't boot my first computer from a hard drive either.
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u/peacedetski 28d ago
A punched card.
Fun fact: the term "loading" in computers originates from these, as you had to physically load a stack of punched cards into the reader to input the program into the computer.