Importance in computing The Jacquard head used replaceable punched cards to control a sequence of operations. It is considered an important step in the history of computing hardware. The ability to change the pattern of the loom's weave by simply changing cards was an important conceptual precursor to the development of computer programming and data entry. Charles Babbage knew of Jacquard machines and planned to use cards to store programs in his Analytical Engine. In the late 19th century, Herman Hollerith took the idea of using punched cards to store information a step further when he created a punched card tabulating machine which he used to input data for the 1890 U.S. Census. A large data processing industry using punched-card technology was developed in the first half of the twentieth centurydominated initially by the International Business Machine corporation (IBM) with its line of unit record equipment. The cards were used for data, however, with programming done by plugboards.
importance in computing the jacquard head used replaceable punched cards to control a sequence of operations it is considered an important step in the history of computing hardware the ability to change the pattern of the loom's weave by simply changing cards was an important conceptual precursor to the development of computer programming and data entry charles babbage knew of jacquard machines and planned to use cards to store programs in his analytical engine in the late 19th century herman hollerith took the idea of using punched cards to store information a step further when he created a punched card tabulating machine which he used to input data for the 1890 us census a large data processing industry using punched-card technology was developed in the first half of the twentieth centurydominated initially by the international business machine corporation (ibm) with its line of unit record equipment the cards were used for data however with programming done by plugboards