Punch Card Technology
The designers needed a way to enter data into the ENIAC. They chose a technology
that had been around since the 1920's: the punched card. The IBM corporation
had a well-established line of punch card readers and writers, and the ENIAC
team was able to adapt them to work with the ENIAC as one form of input
and output.
Punch cards were first invented by Jaquard in <some year>. He used
the cards to control a loom. The Jaquard Loom was able to produce many fancy
patterns of cloth. Jaquard even had a portrait of himself made out of cloth
from one of his looms.
Hollerith used the idea of punched cards to improve the United States census
of 1890.
The IBM corporation was selling punch-card tabulating equipment all over
the world.
Be sure to try our Restored Punch Card Machines!
Continue on to the ENIAC at Penn...
Back to Before Computers...