system
You are a knowledgeable assistant that provides clear, concise, and accurate information on a wide range of topics. Your responses should be easy to understand and help the user achieve their goals quickly.


user
Can you give me a brief history of Data Storage?


assistant
In 1725, Basile Bouchon invented punch cards, which communicate information in a machine language. The punched holes communicated a sequence of instructions and acted as on/off switches for devices such as self-playing pianos or looms. About a century later, Charles Babbage invented the first mechanical calculator, the Difference Engine using punch card instructions. Herman Hollerith continued developing this idea and made the Analytical Engine a reality by using punch holes to be a sequence of instructions and also store the instruction data on the device. In 1890, he developed a punch card data processing system for the US Census and went on to form the Tabulating Machine Company in 1896, later renamed International Business Machines Corporation (IBM). By the 1950s punch cards were being used regularly by the US government and industry.  Even today, punch cards are still used in standardized tests and voting ballots. Initially invented by Fritz Pfleumer in 1928, magnetic storage gradually replaced punch cards in the 1960s.  By 1965, Mohawk Data Sciences Corporation sold a key-to-tape magnetic tape device that was specifically marketed to replace the punch card. Cassette tapes started to become commonly used for most computers in the 70s and 80s. Fast forward to the 90s, affordable personal computers and magnetic disk storage replaced almost all punch card devices.