The podcast “110 Histórias | 110 Objetos” (“110 Stories, 110 Objects”) covers the 110 years of history of Instituto Superior Técnico, through its past, present and future objects.

A collection of objects related to different fields, such as science, music, arts and sports, is the starting point for conversations with people who will tell us more about the history of these objects.

A new episode is released every week. The podcast “110 Histórias | 110 Objetos” (“110 Stories, 110 Objects”) is part of the Público newspaper podcasts.

Today’s episode (#46) – May 13, 2022: “110 Histórias | 110 Objetos” (“110 Stories, 110 Objects”) – “The punch card machine”.

The image of Técnico students reading on the steps of the Main Building marked the institution during the 1980s. But more than a passion for literature, it showed the wait for reports on their computer programming work. The process was analog, using cards that were punched so they could then be read by the IBM 360 computer. It could take hours, or days if errors were found, and all 1st year students at Técnico went through this. It is the opposite of the real-time programming that is done today, but not everything was a disadvantage. It was crucial to think before programming and it may be important to do other things [like reading and going to the movies] during the programming period. “While we’re doing it, the brain continues to program.”

Podcast episode: bit.ly/3kUXAm5 | 110.tecnico.ulisboa.pt
Previously played podcasts: spoti.fi/2RHvFeJ | Subscribe to the podcast: apple.co/3hHdxvB

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