Why is FORTRAN so picky about columns??

Fortran originated in the days of punched cards. Each card had a total of 80 columns and represented one line of code. When you typed something incorrectly at the keypunch, you had to start that line all over with a new card.

The next step was to give the deck of cards to a computer operator to load into a card reader. Then the computer operator would hand you back your cards and you would go off and return some time later (the following day usually) to get a printout of your results (or errors).

Then you'd go to the keypunch, make new cards with whatever changes you wanted to make and begin the process all over again. Hope this gives you a bit of appreciation for progress!