TABULATING MACHINE

In 1877, an American named Herman Hollerith (1869-1926) fabricated what was dreamt by Charles Babbage. He fabricated the first electromechanical punched card tabulator that used punched cards for input, output and instructions. This machine was used by American Department of Census to compile their 1880 census data and were able to complete compilation in 3 years which used to take around 10 years.

 

The tabulator could be wired so that different information could be counted at each pass of the card though the machine. Hooked up electrically to the tabulator was the sorter box. At the same time, the sensor advanced the counter, an appropriate box on the sorter would be activated and the lid would pop open. The operator would place the card in the appropriate box and proceed to the next card.   

 

Although slow by today's standards, this was exactly what was needed to make order out of the uncontrolled mass of data.

For all Hollerith's success and all the praise heaped on the Census Bureau, the newspapers complained bitterly when the population was less than expected and New York State lost two representatives. Following the US Census, Austria and Canada used Hollerith machines for their own censuses. In 1895, Hollerith went to Moscow to sell his machines to the Russians for their first census.

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