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Herman Hollerith

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Inventor

The Resume

    (February 29, 1860-November 17, 1929)
    Born in Buffalo, New York
    Statistician and inventor
    Invented the card-punch tabulating machine (1884)
    Later improvements included the first automatic card feeder and the first key punch
    Formed the Tabulating Machine Company (1898)
    Company merged with three others to form IBM (1911)

Why he might be annoying:

    He disliked spelling lessons so much that he jumped out of a school window to avoid one. (Not surprisingly, he was taught at home by tutors after that.)
    He took advantage of his monopoly on tabulating machines to jack up the prices just before the 1900 census, resulting in the government spending more on his machines than it would have spent to tabulate results by hand.
    In response, the Census Bureau launched a program to develop its own tabulating machines, eventually producing an improved model that made Hollerith's obsolete.
    At IBM, he frequently butted heads with new President Thomas J. Watson, who reestablished the company as an industry leader.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He entered Columbia University at age 16.
    Use of his tabulating machines resulted in the 1890 census being completed six years earlier than the 1880 one and saved taxpayers an estimated $5 million.
    His machines were also used for censuses in Canada, Russia, France, Norway, Austria, Cuba, and the Philippines.
    In a key step to making computers programmable, his Type I Tabulator (1906) included a wiring panel that allowed it to do different jobs without being rebuilt.
    He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame (1990).

Credit: C. Fishel


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Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 20 Votes: 50.0% Annoying