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Punch Card technology has been around for centuries.
Punch Cards have been used to record and count data. European and
American corporations began to mass produce punch card products and
other business machines during the 1900s. The rapid
evolution of punch card technology and the demand for data storage were
major catalysts for the digital inventions of today. |
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More about Punch Cards |
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Civilizations have gathered information on various subjects for
thousands of years. People have looked to data for specific
information, as well as, trending.
Analysis of data has helped people to make informed decisions and to
build upon past experiences. Surely the industrial revolution
encouraged the notions of machines enabling record gathering and record keeping.
It is difficult to be certain who the first users of punch card
techniques were. Some recorded history leads us to Basile Bouchon
and Jean-Baptists Falcon in 1705. Other sources look to contributions by Jacquard. Jacquard used punch
card technology to program looms in the early 19th century. In 1890, Herman Hollerith used punch cards for the U.S. Census. American Arithmometer Company was founded to manufacture and sell the first commercially
viable "adding and listing machine". This machine was invented by William Seward Burroughs.
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The demand to gather and analyze data grew during the 1900's. In 1911
Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company was founded in part by Herman
Hollerith. In 1924 the company name was changed to a more familiar
International Business Machines (IBM). By 1937, The IBM manufacturing
facility, in Endicott, NY was producing 10 million punch cards per day.
Right around the same time (1923), a new company out of Denmark emerged
named Contex. Contex designed and invented time saving business
machines such as mechanical calculators and Aperture Card Readers. In 1960 states such as Maine had begun transferring a majority of their
information to Punch Cards. Educational institutions and
businesses also began to adopt this new punch card technology. People that performed
these data related tasks were
commonly known as Keypunch Operators and Verifiers. Two common machines
produced to facilitate this process were the sorter and the collator. |
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Aperture Cards Readers:
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4601-03
ACS 4600
CF600
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Punch Card Reader Examples
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Remington
Rand was another manufacturer that pushed for innovation.
Remington Rand Manufactured a newer version of the punch card that
enabled 90 columns of text on 45 column cards. Punch Cards started
to integrate with emerging technologies.
By the 1980s, workstation consoles and tape drives entered the
environment. Punch Card manufacturers continued to develop and add
new product lines to their plethora of existing merchandise offerings.
Companies like Contex began to manufacture large format scanners in
1988. These new scanners were built on modular scanning
technology. Another company, Wicks And Wilson, began to make
transitions into micrographic equipment in the 1980s and 1990s.
Wicks and Wilson focused on microfilm, aperture cards, and microfiche
scanning solutions. |
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84 Character Set Punch Card
Photo by Don S. Trestles 2005 ASP Comp
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Punch Card Manufacturers
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IBM
Contex
Wicks and Wilson
Cardamation
IDEAL
Indus
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More about Data |
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The Punch Card industry continues to be an integral part of modern
society.
The United States, through 2008, continues to utilize punch cards to support
the voting process. The medical industry utilizes punch cards to
keep track of employee time card activity. The gaming community
found use for punch cards to record bets on horse races and other
betting activities. Punch card technology has paved the way for
many newer technological advancements in scanning, 3D color imaging and
digital database methods and architecture . |
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Aperture Card
Reader
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Punch Card
With MicroFilm
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Civilizations have recorded
and analyzed information for hundreds if not thousands of years.
The adoption of mechanical devices has greatly facilitated data-centric
efforts to make informed decisions. Punch Card Technology continues to be a solution for the world
and has served as a foundational building block for modern computers. |
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More about IBM |
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Sources |
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Written by Philip Dominguez
www.maine.gov/newsletter/june01/punch_card.htm Official Maine State Website 1/30/2008, Article written by Phil McSweeney June 2001
IBM Online Archives 1/30/2008
www.pattonhq.com/ibm.html (Charles M. Province) 1/30/2008
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-punch-cards.htm 1/30/2008, written by Dan Blacharski
www.washingtonpavilion.org/VisualArtsCenter1/30/2008
CardAmation.com Card Reader page 1/28/2008
www.unisys.com/about__unisys/history/ 1/28/2008
wikipedia.org - Punch Card
1/27/2008
Bob Swartz CardAmation Company 1/28/2008
Contex Website 2/12/2008
Wicks And Wilson 2/12/2008
Graphics:
Philip Dominguez
Photos:
CardAmation Company
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