Comment by upofadown
9 years ago
For sentimental reasons I still carry around my Teletype ASCII reference card which is laid out this way. For extra retro goodness it shows the bits as holes on a paper tape with the feed holes and everything.
When you have to design a device that does ASCII entirely mechanically then this is a efficient way to structure it. I would not be surprised to hear that mechanical considerations had a influence on the question of what bits went where.
Added: OK, I have managed to not entirely surprise myself:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASCII#Internal_organization
This seems to say that the influence was partially mechanical typewriters but the Teletype Model 33 entirely followed ASCII.
> For sentimental reasons I still carry around my Teletype ASCII reference card which is laid out this way.
Your comment inpired some googling. I found this chart, which although likely not the one you carry around, is pretty doggone cool too:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ASCII_Code_Chart-Qui...
I found a collection of Teletype (teleprinter?) code cards:
* http://www.rtty.com/CODECARD/codecrd1.htm
Mine is the one designated "Model 33/35 ASCII".
Somebody want to pretty that up and put out some print-resolution (and/or good web designed) version? I've always used http://www.asciitable.com/ ; Not because it's well presented but because it's easy to remember. A 'better' ASCII table would be good for making this cool again, teaching the current generation some of the things they've missed.
Don't forget "man ascii". It's not laid out any better but might be more convenient for you.
Could you please take a photo of that card and post the image up somewhere for posterity?