Inventing the PC - Inventing the PC - page 17

IBM punch card. (Source: York University Computer Museum.)
process continued until such time as the owner was happy with
the program and the results of its execution.
The batch-processing of computer jobs was especially popu-
lar on large mainframe computers such as the IBM \360. Com-
puter time was expensive, and the batch mode utilization of
mainframes was a widely used way of reducing costs.
Shortly after Kutt's arrival at Queen's, the university replaced
its aging 1620 computer with a modern IBM \360 model 40 and,
later, upgraded it to a model 50. Kutt also introduced Queen's
to the APL language. Students and faculty interested in APL
had access to several dedicated APL terminals that they could
use to connect to the university's computer for their computa-
tional needs. For non- APL users, punch cards and the batching
of computer jobs continued.
Historically, punch cards were among the oldest and most
prevalent computer input media. Supplying an extended line of
hardware to punch, read, and process cards was also a lucra-
tive business for companies such as IBM . However, already, at
Honeywell, Kutt had gained a clear idea of how to make com-
puter data entry easier without the need of punch cards. One
could simply provide programmers or data entry personnel with