eighty-column mind

abuse The sort said to be possessed by persons for whom the

transition from punched card to paper tape was traumatic

(nobody has dared tell them about disks yet). It is said that

these people, including (according to an old joke) the founder

of IBM, will be buried "face down, 9-edge first" (the 9-edge

being the bottom of the card). This directive is inscribed on

IBM's 1402 and 1622 card readers and is referenced in a famous

bit of doggerel called "The Last Bug", the climactic lines of

which are as follows:

He died at the console

Of hunger and thirst.

Next day he was buried,

Face down, 9-edge first.

The eighty-column mind is thought by most hackers to

dominate IBM's customer base and its thinking.

See fear and loathing, card walloper.

[Jargon File]

(1996-08-16)