Chinese Lost the Printing Revolution, Navy's Special Weapon, The Inspiration for the First Computer

We often find that knowledge and innovation are built on top of other ideas, and sometimes those ideas come from the most unexpected places. One of the biggest inspirations for the first computers was a technology invented to help the textile industry - the Jacquard loom.

Weaving was an incredibly laborious process at the time, often requiring two people. In addition to the weaver, there was a draw boy, whose role was to sit atop a loom and manually raise and lower its warp threads to create patterned cloth. In 1801, the ingenious French weaver Joseph Marie Jacquard revolutionized this process with a machine that used punched cards, a series of perforated paper cards laced together in a sequence.

Each card corresponded to one row of the design and controlled which loom threads were raised during weaving. The presence or absence of holes in specific positions on the card directed a series of hooks to raise or lower the warp threads, which determined the weave pattern. This automation allowed for complex patterns to be produced with greater precision and speed, and once the cards were created, the pattern could be replicated indefinitely with minimal human intervention.

The use of punched cards to control a machine was later adopted in the 19th century for use in other data processing machines and early computers, most notably by Charles Babbage in his design of the Analytical Engine. The Jacquard loom's influence on technology is truly remarkable, standing as a testament to the enduring legacy of innovation in the textile industry and how it can influence many others, paving the way for future advancements.Go deeper: Programming Patterns: The Story Of The Jacquard Loom - Science + Industry Museum

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