Dear SIGCIS, please excuse the "self-promotion": The keyword of the information explosion will be filled in my ebook “The First Information Explosion”. Many examples are given how the use of punch card technology expands the demand for information. The book gives evidence for the suggestion of Theo Pirker that formalization of information induces the growth of the information department in enterprises so that the rationalization is absorbed by expansion. This process is labeled as informationexplosion and the paper portrays the first informationexplosion in history induced by punch card technology. On the basis of the sources, it can be demonstrated in this ebook that the use of punch card technology gave rise to more and more fields of application in the field of commercial data processing. This expansive behavior of information technology can be described by the term informationexplosion. Just as in the fission of the uranium atom 235, a splitting neutron leads to the emission of two more neutrons, triggering a chain reaction with explosion, the introduction of punch card technology in one field creates a hunger for formalized information in neighboring fields and a further expansion of punch card-based analysis. The ebook places punch card (also: punched card) technology in the context of the office machine industry in Germany and discusses the exciting relationship between the two competitors on the market for punch card technology, IBM with its German branch Dehomag and Powers, in Germany, 1909–1939. The punch card technology was based on electrical–mechanical machines as the other office machines before the advent of microelectronics. The question is whether the leading role of the United States in the use of office machines frequently cited by Anglo-American authors really applies. How punch card technology in Germany has advanced from its beginnings is discussed under the heading of rationalisation strategies. The technologies of the punching machine, the sorting machine and the tabulating machine are shown and an example of tabulating a sales table is given. At the example of a chocolate producer a punched card is discussed of how the various products of the chocolate plant are organized on the card. It is interesting to note that the first informationexplosion in history occurred in the field of commercial data processing, not in the field of scientific–technical data processing. Moreover, punch card technology in the first half of the 20th century was characterized by merely slow technical progress, so that the benefits of information processing had not increased through rapid technical progress, as was seen in the second half of the 20th century with microelectronics underlining the expansive power of punch card technology. The ebook focusses on evidence of informationexplosion in Germany. But the arguments apply to other countries as well. Two sources are cited from Bethlehem Steel Works – one of the leading steel works in United States. Bethlehem steel works are an interesting case because Frederic Winslow Taylor worked there as consultant, but he did not mention punch card technology at all. The ebook concludes with an overview of how punch card technology fits into the broader debate about the feminisation of the office. The ebook is available at Amazon. With kind regards from Berlin Richard Vahrenkamp -- ******************************************** Prof. Dr. Richard Vahrenkamp Logistik Consulting Berlin Phone 0177- 628 3325 E-Mail: Vahrenkamp2@gmx.de Web: www.vahrenkamp.org Heubnerweg 11 14059 Berlin *********************************************