IBM 407

The IBM 407 Accounting Machine was the culmination of a long line of IBM tabulating equipment, dating back to the days of Herman Hollerith. It was the central component of any unit record equipment shop. The 407 read punch cards, totaled fields on the cards, made simple decisions, printed results, and, with the aid of a summary punch, output results on cards that could be input to other processing steps. The 407 could read up to 150 cards per minute.

For printing, the 407 used spinning wheels, an improvement over earlier tabulators that used print bars. In the late 1950s, the 407 was adapted as an input/output device on early computers, such as the IBM 650. Later, 407 print mechanisms were used in the IBM 1133 lineprinter, part of the low cost IBM 1130 computer system.

The 407 was programmed by inserting wire jumpers into a plugboard (see photo). There were holes for each card column, print position, counter digit, and so on. Simple tests were also available.

External link

• the 407 at Columbia University