<s>
A	O
computer	O
punched	B-Device
card	I-Device
reader	I-Device
or	O
just	O
computer	O
card	B-Device
reader	I-Device
is	O
a	O
computer	B-Device
input	I-Device
device	I-Device
used	O
to	O
read	O
computer	B-Application
programs	I-Application
in	O
either	O
source	O
or	O
executable	O
form	O
and	O
data	B-General_Concept
from	O
punched	B-Architecture
cards	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
computer	O
card	B-Device
punch	I-Device
is	O
a	O
computer	O
output	O
device	O
that	O
punches	B-Device
holes	O
in	O
cards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sometimes	O
computer	B-Architecture
punch	I-Architecture
card	I-Architecture
readers	O
were	O
combined	O
with	O
computer	O
card	B-Device
punches	I-Device
and	O
,	O
later	O
,	O
other	O
devices	O
to	O
form	O
multifunction	O
machines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
early	O
computers	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
ENIAC	B-Device
,	O
and	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
NORC	I-Device
,	O
provided	O
for	O
punched	B-Device
card	I-Device
input/output	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Card	B-Device
readers	I-Device
and	O
punches	B-Device
,	O
either	O
connected	O
to	O
computers	O
or	O
in	O
off-line	O
card	O
to/from	O
magnetic	O
tape	O
configurations	O
,	O
were	O
ubiquitous	O
through	O
the	O
mid-1970s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Punched	B-Architecture
cards	I-Architecture
had	O
been	O
in	O
use	O
since	O
the	O
1890s	O
;	O
their	O
technology	O
was	O
mature	O
and	O
reliable	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Card	B-Device
readers	I-Device
and	O
punches	B-Device
developed	O
for	O
punched	B-Architecture
card	I-Architecture
machines	O
were	O
readily	O
adaptable	O
for	O
computer	O
use	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Businesses	O
were	O
familiar	O
with	O
storing	O
data	B-General_Concept
on	O
punched	B-Architecture
cards	I-Architecture
and	O
keypunch	B-Device
machines	I-Device
were	O
widely	O
employed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Punched	B-Architecture
cards	I-Architecture
were	O
a	O
better	O
fit	O
than	O
other	O
1950s	O
technologies	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
magnetic	O
tape	O
,	O
for	O
some	O
computer	O
applications	O
because	O
individual	O
cards	O
could	O
easily	O
be	O
updated	O
without	O
having	O
to	O
access	O
a	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
file	O
drawers	O
of	O
punched	B-Architecture
cards	I-Architecture
served	O
as	O
a	O
low-density	O
offline	O
storage	O
medium	O
for	O
data	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Card	B-Device
reader	I-Device
models	O
vary	O
from	O
300	O
to	O
around	O
2,000	O
CPM	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
all	O
columns	O
of	O
an	O
80	B-Architecture
column	I-Architecture
card	O
encode	O
information	O
this	O
translates	O
to	O
approximately	O
2,500	O
characters	O
per	O
second	O
(	O
CPS	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cards	O
may	O
be	O
read	O
using	O
mechanical	O
brushes	O
that	O
make	O
an	O
electrical	O
contact	O
for	O
a	O
hole	O
,	O
and	O
no	O
contact	O
if	O
no	O
punch	B-Device
,	O
or	O
photoelectric	O
sensors	O
that	O
function	O
similarly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Card	B-Device
punches	I-Device
necessarily	O
run	O
more	O
slowly	O
to	O
allow	O
for	O
the	O
mechanical	O
action	O
of	O
punching	O
,	O
up	O
to	O
around	O
300CPM	O
or	O
400	O
characters	O
per	O
second	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
card	O
devices	O
offer	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
interpret	O
,	O
or	O
print	O
a	O
line	O
on	O
the	O
card	O
displaying	O
the	O
data	B-General_Concept
that	O
is	O
punched	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Typically	O
this	O
slows	O
down	O
the	O
punch	B-Device
operation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
punches	B-Device
would	O
read	O
the	O
card	O
just	O
punched	O
and	O
compare	O
its	O
actual	O
contents	O
to	O
the	O
original	O
data	B-General_Concept
punched	O
,	O
to	O
protect	O
against	O
punch	B-Device
errors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
devices	O
allowed	O
data	B-General_Concept
to	O
be	O
read	O
from	O
a	O
card	O
and	O
additional	O
information	O
to	O
be	O
punched	O
into	O
the	O
same	O
card	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Readers	O
and	O
punches	B-Device
include	O
a	O
hopper	O
for	O
input	O
cards	O
and	O
one	O
or	O
more	O
stacker	O
bins	O
to	O
collect	O
cards	O
read	O
or	O
punched	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Documation	O
Inc.	O
,	O
of	O
Melbourne	O
,	O
Florida	O
,	O
made	O
card	B-Device
readers	I-Device
for	O
minicomputers	B-Architecture
in	O
the	O
1970s	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Their	O
card	B-Device
readers	I-Device
have	O
been	O
used	O
in	O
elections	O
,	O
including	O
the	O
2000	O
"	O
chads	O
"	O
election	O
in	O
Florida	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
IBM	O
2560	O
Multi-Function	O
Card	O
Machine	O
(	O
MFCM	O
)	O
,	O
first	O
introduced	O
for	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
System/360	I-Device
Model	I-Device
20	I-Device
,	O
could	O
also	O
collate	O
,	O
sort	O
and	O
print/interpret	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
711	I-Device
card	B-Device
reader	I-Device
used	O
with	O
the	O
704/709/7090/7094	O
series	O
scientific	O
computers	O
treated	O
every	O
row	O
as	O
two	O
36-bit	O
words	O
,	O
ignoring	O
8	O
columns	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sometimes	O
the	O
ignored	O
columns	O
(	O
usually	O
73	O
–	O
80	O
)	O
were	O
used	O
to	O
contain	O
a	O
sequence	O
number	O
for	O
each	O
card	O
,	O
so	O
the	O
card	B-Architecture
deck	I-Architecture
could	O
be	O
sorted	O
to	O
the	O
correct	O
order	O
in	O
case	O
it	O
was	O
dropped	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
alternative	O
format	O
,	O
used	O
by	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
704	I-Device
's	O
IBM	B-Device
714	I-Device
native	O
card	B-Device
reader	I-Device
,	O
is	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
Column	O
Binary	O
or	O
Chinese	O
Binary	O
,	O
and	O
used	O
3	O
columns	O
for	O
each	O
36-bit	O
word	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Later	O
computers	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
1130	I-Device
or	O
System/360	B-Application
,	O
used	O
every	O
column	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
IBM	B-Device
1401	I-Device
's	O
card	B-Device
reader	I-Device
could	O
be	O
used	O
in	O
Column	O
Binary	O
mode	O
,	O
which	O
stored	O
two	O
characters	O
in	O
every	O
column	O
,	O
or	O
one	O
36-bit	O
word	O
in	O
three	O
columns	O
when	O
used	O
as	O
input	B-Device
device	I-Device
for	O
other	O
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
most	O
of	O
the	O
older	O
card	B-Device
punches	I-Device
were	O
not	O
intended	O
to	O
punch	B-Device
more	O
than	O
3	O
holes	O
in	O
a	O
column	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
multipunch	O
key	O
is	O
used	O
to	O
produce	O
binary	O
cards	O
,	O
or	O
other	O
characters	O
not	O
on	O
the	O
keypunch	B-Device
keyboard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
prank	O
,	O
in	O
binary	O
mode	O
,	O
cards	O
could	O
be	O
punched	O
where	O
every	O
possible	O
punch	B-Device
position	O
had	O
a	O
hole	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Such	O
"	O
lace	B-Device
cards	I-Device
"	O
lacked	O
structural	O
strength	O
,	O
and	O
would	O
frequently	O
buckle	O
and	O
jam	O
inside	O
the	O
machine	O
.	O
</s>
