origins of IBM 3740 diskette format

[Vintage Computer Festival]

On Thu, 24 Feb 2005, Tom Jennings wrote:

> 8" floppy:
> 77 tracks, 26 sectors/track= 2002 sectors
> 128-byte sector payload
>
> IBM punched card= 80 characters
>
> Isn't there some standard unit of IBM cards ("a box") that's 2000
> cards? My friend David says this is the reason for the format.  He
> had some facts to back it up but that's now vapor in one ear (I
> think it went out the other but I can't remember).

Yes.  A "standard" box of punch cards contains 2000 cards.

-- 

Sellam Ismail                                        Vintage Computer Festival
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International Man of Intrigue and Danger                http://www.vintage.org

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