Even before the first computer was conceptualized, data had already been stored on hard copy medium and used with a machine. As early as 1801, the punched card was used as a control device for mechanical looms. One and one-half centuries later, IBM joined punched cards to computers, encoding binary information as patterns of small rectangular holes. Today, punch cards are rarely used with computers. Instead, they are used for a handful of train tickets and election ballots. Although some may find it surprising, a computer printout is another type of hard copy medium.
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