The ideas were sort of there, but the hardware... Hollerith's original census machine in 1888 [1] got data processing going, but it wasn't a volume product. Bea

The ideas were sort of there, but the hardware... Hollerith's original census machine in 1888 [1] got data processing going, but it wasn't a volume product. Bear in mind that neither low-cost steel or milling machines existed at the time. Making things with large numbers of precision parts was not yet commercially feasible. The clock industry eventually cracked that, but metal clocks and watches at low cost in high volume took until the 1890s. Making insulated wire was really hard. Before plastics, wire insulation was varnish or fabric. I restore old Teletypes as a hobby. The oldest one I have working is from about 1926. All the wiring insulation had decayed and had to be replaced. Reliable wire is surprisingly modern. Reliable rubber (neoprene) is only from WWII. Plastics are even later. [1] https://www.census.gov/about/history/bureau-history/census-innovations/technology/hollerith-machine.html https://www.census.gov/about/history/bureau-history/census-i...