A tabulator is an electromechanical machine designed for automatic processing (summation and categorization) of numeric and alphabetic information recorded on punched cards , with results printed on paper tape or special forms [1] .
They were used to process arrays of information before electronic computers became widespread. In the USSR, they were the main technological equipment of machine - counting stations . They were also used in computer centers as auxiliary equipment for processing relatively small amounts of information that do not require performing logical operations [1] .
Tabs could effectively perform addition and subtraction actions. Multiplication and division were performed by the method of sequential multiple addition and subtraction. The operation of the tabulator was performed in accordance with the program dialed on the switching panel [1] .
Content
Creation History
The first statistical tabulator was built by American Herman Hollerith in order to speed up the processing of the census results, which was conducted in the USA in 1890 . The sources indicate the date of the invention - February 29, 1888 [2] [3] . The idea of using punch cards for this purpose belonged to a high-ranking census bureau official, John Shaw Billings (Hollerith's future father-in-law). By 1890, Hollerith had completed his work on the tabulator. Then tests were conducted at the census office, and the Hollerith tabulator was voted the best in competition with several other systems. A contract was made with the inventor. After the census, Hollerith was awarded several prizes and received the title of professor at Columbia University .
Hollerith organized a TMC tabulation machine company (Tabulating Machine Company), selling them to railway departments and government offices (a lot of tabs were also purchased by the Russian Empire ). This company was successful. Over the years, it has undergone a number of changes - mergers and renames. Since 1924, the firm Hollerith became known as IBM .
In the USSR
In the USSR, tabulators of models T-5M, T-5MU and T-5MV were produced for processing digital information. They had the ability to replace the block for reading 80-column punched cards on the block to work with 45-column cards and vice versa [1] .
To work with alphanumeric information intended tabulators model TA80-1. Tabulators of models T-5MU, T-5MV and TA80 could work in conjunction with electronic computing and multiplying prefixes (EEC and EEP), which allowed to produce fast multiplication and division [1] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 S. P. Kutsenko. Tabulator // Encyclopedia of Cybernetics / V. M. Glushkov . - Kiev: The main edition of the Ukrainian Soviet Encyclopedia, 1974. - Vol. 2. - p. 425-426 - 624 s.
- ↑ The article dedicated to the day of computer science // Botan.cc
- ↑ Herman Hollerith invented the first electric computer // Holidays today on Calend.ru