Punch card

The punch card (or "Hollerith" card) is a recording medium for holding information for use by automated data processing machines. Made of stiff cardboard, the punch card represents information by the presence or absence of holes in predefined positions on the card. In the first generation of computing, from the 1920s into the 1950s, punch cards were the primary medium for data storage and processing. Eventually the punch card would be phased out and replaced with huge floppys for media storage, for loading data, in the late 1970's, early 1980's.

Related Topics:
Recording medium - Data processing - Computing - 1920s - 1950s - Floppys - Media storage

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They were an important medium, particularly for data input, well into the 1970s, but are now long obsolete outside of a few legacy systems and specialized applications.

Related Topics:
1970s - Legacy systems

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