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IBM
Toward the end of the nineteenth century, an engineer named Herman Hollerith invented a calculat-
ing machine that sorted cards by punched holes. Any kind of data could be recorded by punching
holes according to a standard procedure, and then the data could be analyzed statistically to provide
a picture of the overall results. Potential customers for this device were organizations, such as gov-
ernment agencies, railroads, and retail establishments, that needed a way of managing and manipu-
lating large amounts of information. The U.S. Census Bureau, for example, saw the potential of this
device for handling its national data collection ...