Decks of ‘perfocards’ and square lined journals, yeah. I watched how he enters codes through tumblers and didn’t understand until there was a keyboard computer connected to tv+vesna.
Why the socialist country comment? They weren't mass replaced until the 80s anywhere.
My (state) university abandoned cards and scrapped its mainframe and punches in 1980. The punches were unwanted anywhere. The most prized parts of the mainframe, a CDC 6600, were the smoked-glass doors.