The tabulating machine was an electromechanical machine designed to assist in summarizing information stored on punched cards. Invented by Herman Hollerith, the machine was developed to help process data for the 1890 U.S. Census.

Was the tabulating machine successful?

These machines reduced a ten-year job to three months (some sources give different numbers, ranging from six weeks to three years), saved the 1890 taxpayers five million dollars, and earned him an 1890 Columbia PhD¹. This was the first wholly successful information processing system to replace pen and paper.

What was the effect of the tabulating machine to the USA?

Herman Hollerith's punched card tabulator transformed the census process—and information processing in general—beginning with the 1890 US census. The machine was able to collect and count data more rapidly and accurately than manual processes had allowed in the past.