{"id":4350,"date":"2024-02-29T14:26:47","date_gmt":"2024-02-29T12:26:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.gdsys.de\/en\/?p=4350"},"modified":"2024-02-29T14:39:04","modified_gmt":"2024-02-29T12:39:04","slug":"when-ones-and-zeros-were-still-holes-herman-hollerith-and-the-invention-of-the-tabulating-machine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.gdsys.de\/en\/2024\/02\/29\/when-ones-and-zeros-were-still-holes-herman-hollerith-and-the-invention-of-the-tabulating-machine\/","title":{"rendered":"When ones and zeros were still holes: Herman Hollerith and the invention of the tabulating machine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Herman Hollerith \u2013 a name that many people may not be as familiar with as Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. However, Hollerith actually laid the foundation for the development and commercialization of data processing with his invention of an electromechanical evaluation machine at the end of the 19th century. His perforated card machine allowed large amounts of data to be evaluated quickly and precisely for the first time.<\/p>\n

To commemorate his 164th birthday, we take a look at the history of this invention and its connection to today\u2019s multinational technology giant IBM.<\/p>\n

The origins of Herman Hollerith<\/h2>\n

Herman Hollerith was born on February 29, 1860, in Buffalo, New York. The son of\u00a0German immigrants from the Palatinate showed an early interest in science and technology and eventually became an engineer. After completing his studies, he began his career at the US Census Bureau in 1879, where he first encountered the statistical challenges of the census.<\/p>\n

When ones and zeros were still holes<\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Herman Hollerith, a driving force in the evolution of data processing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the census bureau, statistical surveys had previously been carried out manually and took several years. Hollerith was concerned with facilitating and accelerating statistical surveys by means of machine recording and evaluation. According to some accounts, Hollerith came up with the idea of perforated cards for data collection when he observed conductors punching hole patterns into tickets. He presented his electrical tabulating system, which transferred the information from questionnaires onto paper cards and then counted and sorted them according to various characteristics using electromagnetic counters and a sorting box. He received an award for his work at the Paris World Exhibition in 1889.<\/p>\n

1890 census: data processing in record time<\/h2>\n

The crowning achievement of his success came in 1890, when Hollerith\u2019s invention was used for the US census. The machine exceeded all expectations and accelerated the enumeration enormously: instead of taking eight years as in 1880, it only took one year to complete the census. Herman Hollerith\u2019s invention revolutionized the efficiency of data collection.<\/p>\n

The legacy of Herman Hollerith<\/h2>\n

Herman Hollerith\u2019s tabulating technology paved the way for modern data processing and its commercialization. In 1896, he founded the \u201cTabulating Machine Company\u201d, with which he marketed his invention worldwide. Hollerith later sold the company, which was renamed International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) after a merger (CTR) in 1924. The emergence of electronic data processing and more cost-effective alternatives eventually rendered the tabulating machine obsolete.<\/p>\n

\n

Did you know?<\/h2>\n

Further developments of Hollerith\u2019s invention were used in US voting machines well into the 21st century. During the presidential election in Florida in 2000, however, the voting machines came under severe criticism due to inaccuracies in the vote count.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

>> Other articles you might be interested in:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Linus Torvalds: How he became a pioneer of software development with open-source code \u2013 A tribute to his 54th birthday<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Alan Turing: from child prodigy to mathematical legend \u2013 a feature on the anniversary of his 111th birthday<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Herman Hollerith \u2013 a name that many people may not be as familiar with as Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. However, Hollerith actually laid the foundation for the development and commercialization of data processing with his invention of an electromechanical evaluation machine at the end of the 19th century. His perforated card machine allowed large …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":4351,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nHerman Hollerith: An insight into the origins of data processing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Herman Hollerith laid the foundation for modern data processing with his invention of the tabulating machine.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.gdsys.de\/en\/2024\/02\/29\/when-ones-and-zeros-were-still-holes-herman-hollerith-and-the-invention-of-the-tabulating-machine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Herman Hollerith: An insight into the origins of data processing\" \/>\n<meta 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