This was started on The Stilyagi Air Corp mailing list, collected here:
>Tim Ryan
Just think of the concept--the data is made up out of thin air! The
card is just there to organize the holes. A previous boss was amazed by
that, it's what got him into data processing. And the chad bucket
filling up with all those 1's, it's amazing to we could run out of them.

I used them also. Hole programs written on punch card that I kept
around for the longest of time. Scavenging cards from one to use in the
next program for class.
Practical applications too, our dorm student radio station had
computerized logs. Such that when the commercials I sold where aired,
the card that put it on the log was pulled and put into the billing
program--also a computer output. The real radio stations in town up
at Michigan Tech probably did not use a computer until a good 20 or so
years later.

I'll let someone else do the math as to how many cards it would
take, and how big & fast the MP3 player would have to read them to
be able to play a 3 minute song from punch card.

>Seth Blumberg
Assuming a non-Hollerith encoding with eight bits per column, and an
MP3 file encoded at 128kbps CBR, there would be 36,864 cards in that
deck, and the card reader would need a throughput of 205 cards per
second.

It might be wise to include an 8-column sequence number, however, so
that a misordered deck can be repaired by a card sorter; with 72 data
columns per card, the total is precisely 40,960 cards (40K cards),
requiring a 228 card/second throughput.

>Tim Ryan
Okay, back to me.

I got to my box of punch cards, and tried to determine how many
cards per inch. I measured 66 cards for the half-inch I measured,
giving 132 cards per inch.
Our deck of 40,960 cards would then be 310.3 inches (25 feet, 10
inches). With boxes at 15 inches per box (15" long, 8" wide, 3.3"
high), we would use just under 21 boxes of cards. Our stack of card
boxes would be 5 feet, 9 inches tall. We would require our human
operator to load a box into the reading hopper once every 17 seconds.
Of course, another human would have to be at the other end to remove
cards read. Then again, I don't know if punch card readers could get to
the speed we would need--228 cards per second.

Now, back in the late 70's, Michigan Bell Telephone was still using
a punch card as the payment card you would return with your payment.
Taking SWAG, let's put the number of bills/payments to 4,096,000 a
month. (It would take someone like polygon/Larry K to give us a number
of phones/bills in Michigan by the 1980 census.) That is 100 times the
amount of cards to process every month. For the 22 work days per month
(at TPC, known as logs) that is 186,000 cards per work day. Our MP3
file could easily hide in the storage rooms used to hold these business
documents.

-Tim Ryan

>William Aksel Kuehl
The comparison of what it would take to play a three minute MP3 with
punch cards is an eye opener.

>Jim DeClercq
Nitpicking, my Uarco Business Forms Ruler, left over from a stint
in XLO Programming Staff, expects 150 cards per inch. A rather
thick handfull of cards could play Anchors Away, in all known
verses, on a chainprinter.

>Tim Ryan
I thought I had one of those around myself. Thanks for the number.
(20 years of humidity must be making mine thicker)
I got to my box of punch cards, and tried to determine how many
cards per inch. I measured 66 cards for the half-inch I measured,
giving 132 cards per inch.
Our deck of 40,960 cards would then be 273.1 inches (22 feet, 9
inches). With boxes at 15 inches per box (15" long, 8" wide, 3.3"
high), we would use just over 18 boxes of cards. Our stack of card
boxes would be 5 feet, 3 inches tall. We would require our human
operator to load a box into the reading hopper once every 19.8 seconds.
Of course, another human would have to be at the other end to remove
cards read. Then again, I don't know if punch card readers could get to
the speed we would need--228 cards per second.

>David Lillard
No problem!
@#$%^ Years ago, I was a person who ran cards through sorters, etc.
Could pick up nearly half a box in one hand - and I was NOT the best.
Anything over a couple of boxes was maintained in long trays, a little
longer than a modern comic box.