Herman Hollerith and were used for first time in Norway by Statistics Norway in 1894. Fredrik Bull was sent abroad to study Hollerith's systems, returning with the conviction that Hollerith's systems were expensive and unstable. He was convinced that he could develop a device that was cheaper and more efficient than Hollerith's. As a result, Bull convinced his employer, Storebrand, to pay him an advance of $10,000 to develop a new machine. The terms of the deal required the advance to be repaid in full if the machine was not successful. Bull's plan was to use electromagnetic technology like Hollerith, but with a considerable number of improvements. The use of 45 column punched cards enabled the machine to read the information while making contact through the holes. This method allowed faster processing of the information. The existing machines in use at that time required significant manual intervention to operate. Bull made several improvements to automate processing such as standardization of punched-cards and pre-selection. Bull's first machine Bull needed almost 2 years to turn his ideas into a finished product. The machine was presented to the Storebrand directors at his workshop on 12 January 1921 and subsequently purchased for the sum of 20,000 pounds on 21 January 1921. The machine was not a success because it was not as efficient, stable and reliable as expected. However, it was in operation until 1926. Around the same time Bull contacted an old friend named Reidar Knutsen from high school in Nordstrand, who headed the company A/S Oka. Through Reidar he met Knut Andreas Knutsen, Reidar's younger brother, who was an engineer, and he and Bull began collaborating. The Bull machine On 31 July 1919 Bull obtained a patent for his design. The patent describes in detail his idea of a programmable tabulating machine. The new machine itself was not completed until 1923 and was referred to as a 'ordering, recording and adding machine'. After its initial success Bull undertook the production of new copies of his T-30 machine, adding improvements as he went. Several insurance companies in Denmark showed interest in the technology. Fredrik then signed a contract the Oka company led by Reidar Knutsen, which assumed the costs of manufacturing and marketing. The production of these machines was in a precision workshop in Kristiania. The Bull machine used punched card of 45 columns, with round holes and a rotating adder. His machine