Early computing #3

Businesses began recognizing the value of computing and saw its potential to boost profits by improving labour- and data-intensive tasks, like accounting, insurance appraisals, and inventory management. To meet this demand, Hollerith founded The Tabulating Machine Company, which later merged with other machine makers in 1924 to become The International Business Machines Corporation or IBM - which you’ve probably heard of. These electro-mechanical “business machines” were a huge success, transforming commerce and government, and by the mid-1900s, the explosion in world population and the rise of globalized trade demanded even faster and more flexible tools for processing data, setting the stage for digital computers, which we’ll talk about next week

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