From: djheydt@kithrup.com   
      
   In article <10kfiqp$2c5f0$4@dont-email.me>,   
   Lawrence DÿOliveiro   wrote:   
   >On Sat, 17 Jan 2026 00:13:45 GMT, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:   
   >   
   >> In article <10kdp51$1kju4$1@dont-email.me>,   
   >> Evelyn C. Leeper  wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>> I personally think this was because computers could not handle them   
   >>> as single letters, and sort algorithms in particular would just   
   >>> break.   
   >>   
   >> Not really true... It depends on how the text is coded internally.   
   >   
   >Depending solely on the text encoding for word sorting is pretty   
   >naïve, don’t you think.   
      
   [Hal Heydt]   
   Perhaps.  But think back to at least the early 1970s and remember   
   that as far as the computer is concerned, everything is just a   
   sequence of bits.   
      
   If you go back further--IBM 1620, released in 1957--internal   
   storage was digits--4 bits plus a flag bit and a paraity bit.   
   Text characters took 2 digits.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)