Re: Just move some disks...
I was talking to a "white coat" at ICL about 30 years ago. I asked "Why the white coat?". He said it was a holdover from the days when tens of thousands of relays created a lot of dust, and high voltages concentrated that and the naturally existing dust ... and then they threw in paper tape, punch cards and mag tape, all of which create more dust. So the coats were to protect the clothes of the wearer.
I pointed out that that was hardly a necessity anymore ... He just smiled sadly and said "We're British. We like uniforms."
Biting the hand that feeds IT
