Tabulating Machine

A tabulating machine is an electromechanical device that reads data encoded on punched cards and automatically counts, sorts or otherwise tabulates it, used for statistical processing before the era of electronic computers. American engineer Herman Hollerith designed the first practical tabulating machine to process the 1890 United States census, cutting the time needed to compile the results from years to months. Hollerith's company later merged with others to form the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company in 1911, which was renamed International Business Machines, or IBM, in 1924.