How weaving helped invent modern computing — and is shaping its future
theconversation.com
Weaving is one of humanity’s oldest crafts, but its patterns helped inspire early computing. Today, textile makers are using conductive yarns and digital looms to invent new kinds of technology.

TLDR on the history side of the article

In 1804, a French weaver named Joseph-Marie Jacquard patented a loom that could weave intricate patterns using punch cards — paper cards with encoded holes.

Once they pass through the loom, the presence or absence of a hole tells the loom which warp thread to raise or lower, acting as the earliest form of binary code programming. Weaving that once required a master weaver and an assistant could now be done by craft hobbyists.

  • Mr. Shower Toast@feddit.ukBannedEnglish
    38·
    1 day ago

    And based on this card, IBM and others developed the 40 / 80 character punch cards which are the reason SAP IS STILL ONLY SUPPORTING 40 CHARACTERS PER FIELD

    • massive_bereavement@fedia.io
      13·
      18 hours ago

      I imagine dying and then in hell, during the interview with the devil as it browses through my life story: “Well, I saw enough <closing the book>, you will be fixing our SAP servers from now onwards.” “Eh? Why is my previous job my punishment?” “Punishment? Oh no, we just run our…” the devil stares at my face for a minute “ok, I can see this working both ways, excellent.”