The IBM 601 Multiplying Punch was a
unit record machine that could read two numbers from a
punched card
A punched card (also punch card or punched-card) is a piece of stiff paper that holds digital data represented by the presence or absence of holes in predefined positions. Punched cards were once common in data processing applications or to di ...
and punch their product in a blank field on the same card. The factors could be up to eight decimal digits long. The 601 was introduced in 1931 and was the first IBM machine that could do multiplication.
In 1936 W. J. Eckert connected a modified 601 to a 285 tabulator and an 016 duplicating punch through a custom switch he designed and used the combined setup to perform scientific calculations.
[ Eckert, W.J.]
Punched Card Methods in Scientific Computation
The Thomas J. Watson Astronomical Computing Bureau, Columbia University (1940)
See also
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IBM 602
*
IBM 603
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IBM 604
The IBM 604 Electronic Calculating Punch was the world's first mass-produced electronic calculator along with its predecessor the IBM 603.
References
601
Programmable calculators
Products introduced in 1931
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