THE LIVING ARCHIVE

From punched cards to autonomous collaborators: the ideas, people, languages and systems that taught machines to follow—and increasingly interpret—human intent.

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Tag: jacquard

The Jacquard Loom: When Instructions Became a Physical Medium

Long before electronic computers, punched cards let a textile machine reproduce complex patterns from stored instructions. The Jacquard loom made control portable, repeatable and separable from the mechanism that executed it.

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Punch Cards: When Programs Were Physical Objects

Long before source files and screens, instructions could be holes in paper. The punched card made repeatable control visible, portable, and industrial.

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