Life before computers

[TheMonkey]

I've been trying to find some information out on what people used before the major influx of computers in the early to mid 80s for "menial tasks". Not much luck though as it's obsoleted by our beloved number crunchers.

Particularly card storage systems, indexing, searching, filing theory (I'm serious!).

Anyone got any links or anything? I'm doing a research document for someone who needs a complete paper backup of their systems if they fail (!).

[DirtyOldMan]

Filing Cabinets



Card Index



Secretary with big tits



You're welcome

[wc2]

In between college & a real job I worked as filing clerk in a large finance house. Think aircraft hanger full of files.

Surely the best option for your client is DIP

[PRC1964]

Ah the good old days. Files everywhere and photocopiers too.

I worked at a place where every document had to be photocopied and then filed in a different building to where the original was kept.

[Gold Dalek]

Filing Cabinets


Secretary with big tits



You're welcome

Shouldn't that be 'Secretary with big tits in favoured position'?

[sparklelard]

When I was at school, the computer department only had a teletype terminal linked to Portsmouth Polytechnic via an Accoustic coupler.

The most useful thing it had was a list of all the pubs in Portsmouth - about 500 of them.

[bogeyman]

Often life before computers was much more convenient.

One of the first jobs I got involved in in computing was the replacement of a wonderful card-index stores stock control system for a major manufacturer of white goods.

The card system had evolved over about 40 years and worked like a charm. Everyone understood it and it was always up-to-date.

Management decreed that this obsolete arrangement needed to be replaced with a whizzy new computer system. And so it came to pass that the card index was replaced by 2 3270 terminals and one priniter (between about 10 stores chaps) - linked to an arcane CICS application that was updated overnight by a batch job (unlike the cards where stock levels were real-time).

You can no doubt imagine the unbounded joy of the storesmen as they took this leap forward into the brave new world of computerised convenience!