These cards were punched according to a coding scheme similar to the one developed byHollerith. A machine interpreted the holes in the cards and translated them into machine language for the computer. The results of the translation were often stored on magnetic drums, cylinders coated with magnetizable material. A brum rotated at high speeds while a device was poised just above it either to write on the drum by magnetizing small sport or to read from it by detectingsport already magnetized. The results of processing were punched on blank cards.