IBM 1130 Punched Cards

The IBM 1130 has a card punch and reader that was used for several IBM computer systems, contributing to making punched card technology accessible to the masses. The 80 column punched cards it uses can be punched at a rate of 80 cards per minute and read at 300 cards a minute. Punched cards are the only method for loading a program onto the machine as it cannot read a disk pack. The design of the punch unit meant that a card could be read, then punched, before ending up in the output bin. The IBM 1130 was also capable of working with a much faster card reader, the popular IBM 2501, which could read between 600 and 1000 cards a minute.