[HN Gopher] How the Index Card Cataloged the World (2017)
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How the Index Card Cataloged the World (2017)
Author : Tomte
Score : 31 points
Date : 2025-03-06 19:38 UTC (3 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.theatlantic.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.theatlantic.com)
| dtagames wrote:
| https://archive.ph/kQaJV
| dtagames wrote:
| TIL that Carl Linneaus invented the 3x5 card. Good stuff.
| cjohnson318 wrote:
| TIL playing cards were printed with a blank reverse side that
| people used for scrap paper, lottery tickets, business cards,
| birth/death announcements, etc.
| WillAdams wrote:
| Has anyone else ever encountered 3x5 cards which are punched and
| numbered along their perimeter?
|
| Saw such a setup once where for each number was assigned a
| categorization different from the ordering, and for a given card,
| the matching hole would be opened up, then when searching a set
| of cards a rod would be inserted at the hole in question and
| lifted up and jostled, causing the matching cards to be revealed
| for inspection.
|
| Unfortunately, didn't think to ask if was a product, or a
| mechanism devised by the owner's parent....
| zabzonk wrote:
| Yep, I've used these a long time back when I was a
| microbiologist, for categorising bacteria. Using two rods meant
| you could do an AND search in one operation. Also, if you
| clipped the wrong hole, you could fix it with Sellotape. I
| can't remember what they were called though.
|
| Fun to be reminded of them!
| yesfitz wrote:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edge-notched_card
|
| "Needle Card", "McBee Card", "Indecks", "E-Z Sort", "Cope-
| chat", "Keysort", "Flexisort", "Velom card", "Rocket card",
| "Slotted card" and variations on those all redirect to that
| article[1].
|
| 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:WhatLin
| ks...
| EvanAnderson wrote:
| Advent of Computing did an episode about edge-notched cards
| (and the host has an interest in them that goes beyond just
| this episode):
| https://adventofcomputing.com/?guid=4f6df5dd432d489db6d2a211...
|
| Douglas Englebart apparently used them and had devised his own
| filing system. (I don't recall if that's discussed in this or
| another episode.)
| JBiserkov wrote:
| Related: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-behind-the-
| bastards-29236...
| runjake wrote:
| I still carry a "Hipster PDA"[1] around, binder clip and all.
| Said binder clip came out of a box from the 1970s.
|
| It's immensely useful in a pinch, it's free form, and I can place
| it flat on a surface and write on it.
|
| And, if I write sensitive information on a card, unlike a regular
| pocket notebook, I can store it or take a secure photo of it and
| physically pitch that index card.
|
| Thanks, Merlin Mann[2].
|
| 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hipster_PDA
|
| 2. https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=merlinmann
| nsriv wrote:
| I have only just relented to buying B6+ softcover notebooks for
| the slightly more room and longer form writing, but the hPDA
| served me very well for 15 years. Shuffling cards to bring them
| to the fore has become such an ingrained productivity trigger
| for task switching over the years.
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