Kirk, I think we can give credit to Hollerith for his tabulating and counting machines, as well as the original punch card being the same size as a dollar bill, but he was not a great success as a businessmen.
Tom Watson Senior really takes the credit. Hollerith's company was part of a 3-way merge where the parent companies contributed to the CTR name. Hollerith's company had disappeared at this stage, and he was just collecting royalties. Tom Watson Snr took the helm of CTR after escaping jail time for anti-competetive behaviour at NCR. It was he that introduced THINK, and renamed it IBM, not Hollerith. For a different view of Tom Watson the man, look up the history of DEHOMAG in Germany... No reflection on current day IBM! Ron > -----Original Message----- > From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of Kirk Talman > Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2008 10:20 AM > To: IBM-MAIN@BAMA.UA.EDU > Subject: Re: [IBM-MAIN] U.S. suspends IBM from seeking new federal > contracts > > Had the article not been posted yesterday, I would have thought the > last > paragraph been a joke. Or may be it is anyway. > > IBM grew up out of a company founded by former U.S. Census bureau > employee > Herman Hollerith, who developed punch-card tabulation machines to > automate > counting of the 1890 census. The Computer-Tabulating-Recording Co was > renamed IBM [International Business Machines] in 1924. > > IBM Mainframe Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@BAMA.UA.EDU> wrote on > 04/01/2008 > 12:56:24 PM: > > <snip> > > > That article raises a number of > > questions. If you're the head of an agency and your z machine is > > swamped, can you upgrade? I'm sure the process takes at least a > > year to upgrade, but if you can't get a replacement machine, what do > > you do? Conversions off the mainframe take years. Maybe this is > > not an issue and they can just buy from a 3rd party reseller. Does > > anyone know anything about the federal governments procurement > > policies of new mainframes? Just curious, although as a citizen of > > the US, that is something that affects me from a tax standpoint. > > </snip> > > Eric > > > > ----------------------------------------- > The information contained in this communication (including any > attachments hereto) is confidential and is intended solely for the > personal and confidential use of the individual or entity to whom > it is addressed. The information may also constitute a legally > privileged confidential communication. If the reader of this > message is not the intended recipient or an agent responsible for > delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified > that you have received this communication in error and that any > review, dissemination, copying, or unauthorized use of this > information, or the taking of any action in reliance on the > contents of this information is strictly prohibited. If you have > received this communication in error, please notify us immediately > by e-mail, and delete the original message. Thank you > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO > Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
