String automata could already be found at the imperial and royal courts of the European nobility in the first half of the 16th century. These spring-driven instruments played their music from pinned wooden cylinders.
Towards the end of the 19th century, cardboard folding books, steel discs and paper rolls were introduced. The pianola, with its perforated paper roll music, was very popular up to the 1930s.  
The late 20th century saw the development of the computer-programmed piano.