The Jacquard loom used punch cards to allow a rich variety of weavng patterns, far beyond fixed methods of tying up that preceded it. It was the inspiration for the punch cards used in Babbage, Charles's Analytical Engine and hence the Jacquard loom can be seen as a direct desc endent of the modern programmable computer. Indeed, these orgins inspired Lovelace, Ada to write about the way the Analytical Engine ""weaves algebraical patterns just as the Jacquard-loom weaves flowers and leaves".
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Punched cards in use in a Jacquard loom. Source: User Ghw on en.wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
