Powers Accounting Machine Company
Encyclopedia
Powers Accounting Machine Company (also known as Powers Tabulating Machine Company) was an early 20th century tabulating machine
company. It was founded in 1911 in Newark, New Jersey
and moved in 1914 to Brooklyn
.
Russian-born James Powers
was hired by the U.S. Census Bureau in 1907 to help the government avoid what were perceived as excessive charges by Herman Hollerith
's Tabulating Machine Company. Although Hollerith had numerous patents, Powers managed to avoid infringement and created a faster, cheaper machine that was compatible with Hollerith's punched card
format.
In 1927, Powers Accounting Machine Company merged with the Remington Typewriter Company and Rand Kardex to form Remington Rand
.
Tabulating machine
The tabulating machine was an electrical device designed to assist in summarizing information and, later, accounting. Invented by Herman Hollerith, the machine was developed to help process data for the 1890 U.S. Census...
company. It was founded in 1911 in Newark, New Jersey
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
and moved in 1914 to Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
.
Russian-born James Powers
James Powers
James F. Powers is a Democratic member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, representing the Rockingham 16th District since 2004.-External links:** profile**...
was hired by the U.S. Census Bureau in 1907 to help the government avoid what were perceived as excessive charges by Herman Hollerith
Herman Hollerith
Herman Hollerith was an American statistician who developed a mechanical tabulator based on punched cards to rapidly tabulate statistics from millions of pieces of data. He was the founder of one of the companies that later merged and became IBM.-Personal life:Hollerith was born in Buffalo, New...
's Tabulating Machine Company. Although Hollerith had numerous patents, Powers managed to avoid infringement and created a faster, cheaper machine that was compatible with Hollerith's punched card
Punched card
A punched card, punch card, IBM card, or Hollerith card is a piece of stiff paper that contains digital information represented by the presence or absence of holes in predefined positions...
format.
In 1927, Powers Accounting Machine Company merged with the Remington Typewriter Company and Rand Kardex to form Remington Rand
Remington Rand
Remington Rand was an early American business machines manufacturer, best known originally as a typewriter manufacturer and in a later incarnation as the manufacturer of the UNIVAC line of mainframe computers but with antecedents in Remington Arms in the early nineteenth century. For a time, the...
.