Magnetic account

The articles medium data technology , midrange computer , magnetic account computer and magnetic account overlap thematically. Help me to better differentiate or merge the articles (→  instructions ) . To do this, take part in the relevant redundancy discussion . Please remove this module only after the redundancy has been completely processed and do not forget to include the relevant entry on the redundancy discussion page{{ Done | 1 = ~~~~}}to mark. Neutronstar2 ( discussion ) 11:38, Feb. 27, 2019 (CET)

A magnetic account is a data carrier in the form of a cardboard card (also called a magnetic account card , or MKK for short ) with at least one magnetic strip , usually longitudinally attached to the side on the back, and name giver for the magnetic account computer .

use

Magnetic accounts were used for bookkeeping in medium-sized data technology with so-called magnetic account computers, whose namesake they are . You could initially note booking processes on them like on a conventional account card as a machine-printed booking line, but at the same time save the last booking data digitally on the card. In contrast to the purely mechanical booking process, the use of magnetic accounts was an improvement in that the last balance no longer had to be read off the account card and typed into the booking machine , but could be read in by the magnetic account computer and processed electronically. With this system, the accountant still had the option of visually reading the balance and the accounting items from the card. In principle, the workflow remained similar to the purely mechanical booking process, but it was very accelerated. After the card has been inserted into a reading slot, the contents of the magnetic strip are first read. The line number of the last posting is also stored in the data so that the printing unit can position itself directly in the next free line. Corresponding programming of the magnetic account computer also enabled the automated checking of the booking balance and account balance. The creation of balance sheets could also be accelerated through the use of magnetic accounts .

The first systems came onto the market as early as the late 1950s and lasted until the early 1990s, when they were finally superseded by PC systems.

format

A magnetic account card was often in A4 format , but there was no standard format, as was the case with the number, arrangement and dimensions of the magnetic strips. Each manufacturer of magnetic account computers used more or less their own card format. Due to the many formats of the magnetic account cards, there were also big differences in the digital storage capacity.

literature

• Wilfried de Beauclair : Computing with machines: A pictorial history of computing technology . Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2nd edition March 29, 2005, ISBN 3-540-24179-5

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Can the magnetic account still be taken seriously?  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - Computer week 27/1976