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LOL, I swear it feels like the answer to every "why is this weird computer thing this way?" question I see is "because we used to do it this way on punch cards.
by jobead 10y ago
LOL, I swear it feels like the answer to every "why is this weird computer thing this way?" question I see is "because we used to do it this way on punch cards."
- kosma 10y agoWait until you find out that "coder" originally meant "someone who encodes messages into Morse". And if you start digging into the word "code", you'll find it comes from latin "codex" which is a mutation of "caudex" meaning, literally, "tree trunk". Because back then, people would write on wooden tablets covered with wax. So.. next time you see a kludge and think of "historical reasons", consider that "historical" goes back much farther than 20th century. :)
- yrro 10y agoHuh. I remembered from school that "caudex" was a reasonable translation for the insult "blockhead"... now I know why!
- OliverJones 10y agoAnd, what did the word "computer" mean back in the day? Hint: they were mostly women. And, they defeated the Nazis in World War Two, with the help of Alan Turing and his crew.
- w8rbt 10y agoOr teletype... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teleprinter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teleprinter