Before the early 1800s, producing intricate patterns in woven fabric was a laborious process. A weaver's assistant had to sit on top of the loom and manually raise and lower the threads. The invention of the Jacquard Machine revolutionized this process by using a series of interchangeable punchcards which held pattern weaving instructions.

In 1932 Wallace Flint wrote his master's thesis introducing a punchcard supermarket checkout system. Shoppers would collect punchcards that would be fed into the register, providing a more automated checkout experience. This idea, while it never came to fruition, ultimately led to the creation of the barcode.

From textiles to groceries and even computing, the desire for speed and automation has led to some fascinating ways to store data on paper. This talk will explore a selection of these ways, from punchcards, barcodes, QR Codes, and more.