Punched card sorter
It is often said that necessity is the mother of invention. In the 1880s, the United States Census Bureau had a problem. It had taken them almost eight years to tabulate the data from the 1880 census. Federal officials worried that it would take even longer to co
mpile the 1890 census results. Thanks to the hard work and ingenuity of American engineer Herman Hollerith, the problem was solved. In 1881, Hollerith began designing a machine to tabulate census data more efficiently than by traditional hand methods. He got his original inspiration from watching a train conductor punch tickets. To collect data, Hollerith adopted the punched card method developed in the early 1800s by a French silk weaver, Joseph-Marie Jacquard. Hollerith invented a punched card tabulating machine that could be read by electrical sensing. Data was transferred from the census taker's sheet to a punched card. Each card represented one person and each hole recorded a different statistic. The punched cards, like those pictured below, were sorted and read electronically by the punched card sorter. This system made it possible for one Census Bureau employee to compute data on thousands of people in one day. With the help of Hollerith's machines, the Census Bureau was able to tabulate the 1890 census in a single year. Following the success of his invention, Hollerith established a business called the Tabulating Machine Company. His company, through subsequent mergers, became part of what we know today as the International Business Machines Corporation - IBM. Although sophisticated data collecting computers have made the use of punched card systems almost obsolete, punched card ballots are still used in many areas of the United States for voting purposes.
It is often said that necessity is the mother of invention. In the 1880s, the United States Census Bureau had a problem. It had taken them almost eight years to tabulate the data from the 1880 census. Federal officials worried that it would take even longer to co
mpile the 1890 census results. Thanks to the hard work and ingenuity of American engineer Herman Hollerith, the problem was solved. In 1881, Hollerith began designing a machine to tabulate census data more efficiently than by traditional hand methods. He got his original inspiration from watching a train conductor punch tickets. To collect data, Hollerith adopted the punched card method developed in the early 1800s by a French silk weaver, Joseph-Marie Jacquard. Hollerith invented a punched card tabulating machine that could be read by electrical sensing. Data was transferred from the census taker's sheet to a punched card. Each card represented one person and each hole recorded a different statistic. The punched cards, like those pictured below, were sorted and read electronically by the punched card sorter. This system made it possible for one Census Bureau employee to compute data on thousands of people in one day. With the help of Hollerith's machines, the Census Bureau was able to tabulate the 1890 census in a single year. Following the success of his invention, Hollerith established a business called the Tabulating Machine Company. His company, through subsequent mergers, became part of what we know today as the International Business Machines Corporation - IBM. Although sophisticated data collecting computers have made the use of punched card systems almost obsolete, punched card ballots are still used in many areas of the United States for voting purposes.
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