0 a machine for recording information from punch cards (= cards with holes in patterns that represent information): --
Prior to that, tabulator operators had to write down totals from counter wheels onto tally sheets.
After the hand count, the sample is fed into the tabulator.
Most such tabulators used analog comparators that counted all marks darker than a fixed threshold as being votes.
With prior tabulators the results were displayed and had to be copied by hand.
Tabulator functions were implemented with both mechanical and electrical components.
The original tabulators only counted the presence of a hole at a location on a card.
To process these punched cards he invented the tabulator, and the key punch machine.
Control panels simplified the changing of electrical connections for different applications, but changing most tabulator's use still required mechanical changes.
