cards and printers (was Re:linuxcaffe; become peripheraly involved !)

[Henry Spencer]

On Wed, 9 Feb 2005, Alex Beamish wrote:
> ...The only tip I knew of was to never
> leave your stack of cards on the printer -- it was a model that
> automatically opened its cover when it ran out of paper ...

Ah yes, the IBM 1403.  There was one small part of the cover which didn't
open, off to the left where the control panel was.  You could tell the
experienced users because when they put their deck down on the printer
cover, they *always* put it down on that section. 

My favorite 1403 story is one I didn't witness firsthand.  The 1403's
noise level also went up rather sharply, even with no printing happening,
when the cover opened.  There was a lot of sound insulation in that cover,
and a lot of hardware spinning even when the printer was stopped.  Some
impressionable first-year student who was new to the whole business was in
the self-serve terminal area by himself when the printer ran out of paper. 
Reportedly he came running out, white as a sheet, gasping "It opened its
mouth and screamed at me!".

                                                          Henry Spencer
                                                       henry-lqW1N6Cllo0sV2N9l4h3zg at public.gmane.org

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