To process these punched cards, he invented the tabulator and the keypunch machine. Before text editors existed, computer text was punched into cards with keypunch machines. Businesses were familiar with storing data on punched cards and keypunch machines were widely employed. Similarly, the IBM 826 used an IBM 026 Keypunch. Original data was usually punched into cards by workers, often women, known as keypunch operators. The later IBM 129 keypunch also could operate as a verifier. In reality it was unworkable and almost invariably users acquired a stand-alone keypunch/verifier. He invented the first automatic card-feed mechanism and the first keypunch. This first-generation Type 001 keypunch used 45 columns and round holes. They used the newest technology, keypunch cards and that modern invention, the computer. Keypunch operators immediately recognized the symbol as an "explicit space". Nearby would be a room full of keypunch machines for programmer use.