International Business
Machines
(ibm), leading American computer
manufacturer, with a major share of the market both in
the United States and abroad. Its headquarters are in
Armonk, N.Y.
It was incorporated in 1911 as the
Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company in a
consolidation of three smaller companies that made
punch-card tabulators and other office products. The
company assumed its present name in 1924 under the
leadership of Thomas Watson, a man of considerable
marketing skill who became general manager in 1914 and
had gained complete control of the firm by 1924. Watson
built the then-floundering company into the leading
American manufacturer of punch-card tabulating systems
used by governments and private businesses. He also
developed a highly disciplined and competitive sales
force that adapted the company's custom-built tabulating
systems to the needs of particular customers.
In 1933 IBM purchased Electromatic Typewriters, Inc.,
and thereby entered the field of electric typewriters,
in which it eventually became an industry leader. During
World War II, IBM helped construct several high-speed
electromechanical calculators that were the precursors
of electronic computers. But the firm refrained from
producing these electronic data-processing systems until
Watson's son, Thomas Watson, Jr., became president of
the company in 1952 and sponsored an all-out push into
that field. Having entered the computer field,
IBM's size allowed it to invest heavily in development.
This investment capability, added to its dominance in
office-calculating machines, its marketing expertise,
and its commitment to repair and service its own
equipment, allowed IBM to quickly assume the predominant
position in the American computer market. By the
1960s it was producing 70 percent of the world's
computers and 80 percent of those used in the United
States.
IBM's specialty was mainframe computers--i.e.,
expensive medium- to large-scale computers that could
process numerical data at great speeds. The company did
not enter the growing market for personal computers
until 1981, when it introduced the IBM Personal Computer.
This product achieved a major share of the market, but
IBM was nevertheless unable to exercise its accustomed
dominance as a maker of personal computers. New
semiconductor-chip-based technologies were making
computers smaller and easier to manufacture, allowing
smaller companies to enter the field and exploit new
developments such as workstations, computer
networks, and computer graphics. IBM's enormous
size hindered it from responding rapidly to these
accelerating rates of technological change, and by the
1990s the company had downsized considerably. In 1995
IBM purchased Lotus Development Corporation, a major
software manufacturer.
IBM's products include virtually every type of
equipment needed for information processing, storage,
and retrieval. In addition to being the world's largest
manufacturer of computers, the company produces electric
typewriters, electronic cash registers, and other
business machines.
CALL
Glue: Scripting Languages for Computer Aided Language
Learning Systems - Text processing using the
computer programming languages Perl, Tcl/Tk, and Python,
Perl scripts for extracting sentences out of HTML web
pages.
Optimum Designs Inc.
- Manufacturers computer based digital oscilloscopes.
Australian
Seniors Computer Clubs Association (ASCCA) - Public
benevolent institution offering barrier-free
information, advice on starting a club, tips and hints
for seniors and people with disabilities.
Computer
and Telecommunications Equipment Recycling - Links
to companies, associations and publications related to
the computer and telecommunications recycling industry
in general.
Mint Computer
- Buys, sells, rents and leases new and refurbished
midrange hardware, peripherals and printers.
Savvy
Shopping: Personal Computer Buying Guide - Article
discusses the major computer components and advises what
an average user needs to purchase. Site also offers
coupons.
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