How did the American company IBM come about? Detailed answer

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How did the American company IBM come about? Detailed answer

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How did the American company IBM come about?

In 1880, the tenth census took place in the United States. The campaigning bureau estimated that it would take at least 500 clerks to process population data using categories of gender, place of birth, occupation. Still, they would have had enough work for 7-8 years. Given the country's rapid population growth, the next census would require even more work and time. Radical changes were needed in the counting procedure - the buzzword "automation" was in the air.

The young engineer Herman Hollerith (1860-1929) answered the request for time. He worked as a census taker in the 1880 campaign, so the problem of automatic processing of statistical data did not give him rest. The solution matured in 1886: it is necessary to put data on cards, punching holes in them according to a certain system, and then probing these cards (punched cards) with needles. If the needle finds a hole and, having passed through it, touches a metal surface, then the electrical circuit closes and one is added to the calculation results. Two years later, Hollerith demonstrated his first electromechanical calculating machine, called at first an electric adder, and later a tabulator. The machine could quickly read and sort a variety of statistical records if they were originally encoded on punched cards. Actually, punched cards were not Hollerith's invention, however, the electromechanical data processing system on punched cards was developed by him.

This invention revolutionized the world of statistics. In 1890, Hollerith's invention was used for the first time in a census. The work that 500 clerks barely managed in 7 years, Hollerith did in just a month - on 43 tabulators (of course, an assistant sat behind each machine). In addition, the entire census cost half a million dollars less than the previous one. Hollerith received several awards and was made a professor at Columbia University.

In 1896, realizing that his vocation was not only statistics, but also business, Hollerith organized a small company in New York for the production of tabulation machines. After 15 years, this company merged with three other modest firms, and in 1924 this corporation received the modern name "International Business Machines Corporation" ("International Business Machines").

Now this giant of the world computer industry is better known under the abbreviated name "IBM" ("Ai-Bee-Em"). Of course, in the 1920s, IBM did not yet produce computers. Its main products were tabulators that worked on punched cards - fast (for their time) and reliable machines.

Author: Kondrashov A.P.

Random interesting fact from the Great Encyclopedia:

What city is Philadelphia cream cheese named after?

Philadelphia cream cheese has nothing to do with the famous million-plus city. For the first time in the United States, such cheese began to be produced by many different farmers in New York State in the 19th century. The cheese from farms near the small town of Philadelphia with a population of less than 2000 was famous for its special quality, which gave the name to the brand.

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