IBM cards: Dual Purpose
YEAR: 1966
ITEM: Storage
COMPANY: IBM
COUNTRY: USA
IN OUR COLLECTION: Yes
IBM cards were originally designed to store information...just letters and numbers (see Hollerith Cards). These IBM cards had the ability to store images...basically, a photographic negative was glued to an open window cut into the card.
The cards were often used to store diagrams, charts, design plans, drawings of machine parts, architectural rendering, etc. The standard hole punch part of the card stored information about the image.
These particular cards were from the US Department of Defense and were called Dual Purpose Engineering Document Card. This set had a total of 30 cards and each card was dated June 1, 1966. (We haven't checked them closely, but they are probably not plans for a nuclear missile!)
Sorry, no images have yet been entered. As we get more volunteers/interns we will be adding these images.
Documents
Documents for this item have not yet been scanned or not yet posted. There are a lot of pages...contact us if you have an immediate need. (Although there are not a lot of "immediate needs" for a 70+ year old computer!)
OUR DEFINITIONS OF RARITY
One of a Kind: Only known existing item.
Exceedingly Rare: Only 2 to 10 known to exist.
Very Rare: Only 11 to 25 are known to exist.
Rare: Only 26 to 50 are known to exist.
Difficult: Difficult to find.
Available:Can be commonly be purchased.
Unknown: We cannot make a determination.
(For comparison: Many people consider the Apple-1 computer to be rare. As of 2025 there are 92 confirmed and probable Apple-1 computers.)
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