source
stringlengths 36
80
| text
stringlengths 51
500
|
|---|---|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#90
|
backbone of the SABRE reservation system for American Airlines. As the first airline reservation system to work live over phone lines, SABRE linked high-speed computers and data communications to handle seat inventory and passenger records.[135]
1964
[edit]- IBM System/360. IBM introduces the IBM System/360 which creates a "family" of small to large computers, incorporating IBM Solid Logic Technology (SLT) microelectronics and using the same programming instructions. The concept of a compatible
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#91
|
ramming instructions. The concept of a compatible "family" of computers transforms the industry.[136]
- Word processing. IBM introduces the IBM Magnetic Tape Selectric Typewriter, a product that pioneered the application of magnetic recording devices to typewriting, and gave rise to desktop word processing. Referred to then as "power typing", the feature of revising stored text improved office efficiency by allowing typists to type at "rough draft" speed without the pressure of worrying about mi
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#92
|
t" speed without the pressure of worrying about mistakes.[137]
- New corporate headquarters. IBM moves its corporate headquarters from New York City to Armonk, New York.[138]
1965
[edit]- Gemini space flights. A 59-pound onboard IBM guidance computer is used on all Gemini space flights, including the first spaceship rendezvous. IBM scientists complete the most precise computation of the Moon's orbit and develop a fabrication technique to connect hundreds of circuits on a silicon wafer.[139]
- Ne
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#93
|
hundreds of circuits on a silicon wafer.[139]
- New York World's Fair. The IBM Pavilion at the New York World's Fair closes, having hosted more than 10 million visitors during its two-year existence.[140]
1966
[edit]- Dynamic Random-Access Memory (DRAM). IBM invents one-transistor DRAM cells which permit major increases in memory capacity. DRAM chips become the mainstay of modern computer memory systems.[141]
- IBM System/4 Pi. IBM ships its first System/4Pi computer, designed to meet U.S. Depar
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#94
|
t System/4Pi computer, designed to meet U.S. Department of Defense and NASA requirements. More than 9000 units of the 4Pi systems are delivered by the 1980s for use in the air, sea, and in space.[142]
- IBM Information Management System (IMS). IBM designed the Information Management System (IMS) with Rockwell and Caterpillar starting in 1966 for the Apollo program, where it was used to inventory the very large bill of materials (BOM) for the Saturn V Moon rocket and Apollo space vehicle.
1967
[e
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#95
|
rn V Moon rocket and Apollo space vehicle.
1967
[edit]- Fractal geometry. IBM researcher Benoit Mandelbrot conceives fractal geometry – the concept that seemingly irregular shapes can have identical structure at all scales. This new geometry makes it possible to mathematically describe the kinds of irregularities existing in nature. The concept greatly impacts the fields of engineering, economics, metallurgy, art, health sciences, and computer graphics and animation.[143]
1968
[edit]- IBM Custom
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#96
|
aphics and animation.[143]
1968
[edit]- IBM Customer Information Control System (CICS). IBM introduces the CICS transaction monitor. CICS remains to this day the industry's most popular transaction monitor.[144]
1969
[edit]- Antitrust. The United States government launches what would become a 13-year-long antitrust suit against IBM. The suit is controversially dropped by the U.S. government in 1982.[145]
- Unbundling. IBM adopts a new marketing policy that charges separately for most systems eng
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#97
|
olicy that charges separately for most systems engineering activities, future computer programs, and customer education courses. This "unbundling" gives rise to the software and services industry.[146]
- Magnetic stripe cards. The American National Standards Institute makes the IBM-developed magnetic stripe technology a national standard, making possible new business models such as the credit card industry. Two years later, the International Organization for Standardization adopts the IBM design
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#98
|
nization for Standardization adopts the IBM design, making it a world standard.[147]
- First Moon landing. IBM personnel and computers help NASA land the first men on the Moon.[citation needed]
1970–1974: The challenges of success
[edit]The Golden Decade of the 1960s was a hard act to follow, and the 1970s got off to a troubling start when CEO Thomas J. Watson Jr. suffered a heart attack and retired in 1971. For the first time since 1914 – nearly six decades – IBM would not have a Watson at the
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#99
|
six decades – IBM would not have a Watson at the helm. Moreover, after just one leadership change over those nearly 60 years, IBM would endure two in two years. T. Vincent Learson succeeded Watson as CEO, then quickly retired upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 60 in 1973. Following Learson in the CEO office was Frank T. Cary, a 25-year IBMer[148] who had run the data processing division in the 1960s.[citation needed]
Datamation in 1971 stated that "the perpetual, ominous force called
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#100
|
1 stated that "the perpetual, ominous force called IBM rolls on".[149] The company's dominance let it keep prices high and rarely update products,[150] all built with only IBM components.[151] During Cary's tenure as CEO, the IBM System/370 was introduced in 1970 as IBM's new mainframe. The S/370 did not prove as technologically revolutionary as its predecessor, the System/360. From a revenue perspective, it more than sustained the cash cow status of the 360.[152]
A less successful effort to rep
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#101
|
s of the 360.[152]
A less successful effort to replicate the 360 mainframe revolution was the Future Systems project. Between 1971 and 1975, IBM investigated the feasibility of a new revolutionary line of products designed to make obsolete all existing products in order to re-establish its technical supremacy. This effort was terminated by IBM's top management in 1975. By then it had consumed most of the high-level technical planning and design resources, thus jeopardizing progress of the existi
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#102
|
esources, thus jeopardizing progress of the existing product lines (although some elements of FS were later incorporated into actual products).[153]
Other IBM innovations during the early 1970s included the IBM 3340 disk unit – introduced in 1973 and known as "Winchester" after IBM's internal project name – which was a storage technology which more than doubled the information density on disk surfaces. Winchester technology was adopted by the industry and used for the next two decades.[citation
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#103
|
ustry and used for the next two decades.[citation needed]
Some 1970s-era IBM technologies emerged to become facets of everyday life. IBM developed magnetic stripe technology in the 1960s, and it became a credit card industry standard in 1971. The IBM-invented floppy disk, also introduced in 1971, became the standard for storing personal computer data during the first decades of the PC era. IBM Research scientist Edgar 'Ted' Codd wrote a seminal paper describing the relational database, an invent
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#104
|
aper describing the relational database, an invention that Forbes magazine described as one of the most important innovations of the 20th century. The IBM 5100, 50 lbs. and $9000 of personal mobility, was introduced in 1975 and presaged – at least in function if not size or price or units sold – the Personal Computer of the 1980s. IBM's 3660 supermarket checkout station, introduced in 1973, used holographic technology to scan product prices from UPC bar codes, which itself was based a 1952 IBM p
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#105
|
UPC bar codes, which itself was based a 1952 IBM patent that became a grocery industry standard. Also in 1973, bank customers began making withdrawals, transfers and other account inquiries via the IBM 3614 Consumer Transaction Facility, an early form of today's Automatic Teller Machines.[citation needed]
IBM had an innovator's role in pervasive technologies that were less visible as well. In 1974, IBM announced Systems Network Architecture (SNA), a networking protocol for computing systems. SNA
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#106
|
, a networking protocol for computing systems. SNA is a uniform set of rules and procedures for computer communications to free computer users from the technical complexities of communicating through local, national, and international computer networks. SNA became the most widely used system for data processing until more open architecture standards were approved in the 1990s. In 1975, IBM researcher Benoit Mandelbrot conceived fractal geometry – a new geometrical concept that made it possible t
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#107
|
a new geometrical concept that made it possible to describe mathematically the kinds of irregularities existing in nature. Fractals had a great impact on engineering, economics, metallurgy, art and health sciences, and are integral to the field of computer graphics and animation.[citation needed]
A less successful business endeavor for IBM was its entry into the office copier market in the 1970s, after turning down the opportunity to purchase the xerography technology.[31] The company was immed
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#108
|
e xerography technology.[31] The company was immediately sued by Xerox Corporation for patent infringement. Although Xerox held the patents for the use of selenium as a photoconductor, IBM researchers perfected the use of organic photoconductors which avoided the Xerox patents. The litigation lasted until the late 1970s and was ultimately settled. Despite this victory, IBM never gained traction in the copier market and withdrew from the marketplace in the 1980s. Organic photoconductors are now w
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#109
|
ce in the 1980s. Organic photoconductors are now widely used in copiers.[citation needed]
Throughout this period, IBM was litigating the antitrust suit filed by the Justice Department in 1969. But in a related bit of case law, the landmark Honeywell v. Sperry Rand U.S. federal court case was concluded in April 1973. The 1964 patent for the ENIAC, the world's first general-purpose electronic digital computer, was found both invalid and unenforceable for a variety of reasons thus putting the inven
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#110
|
le for a variety of reasons thus putting the invention of the electronic digital computer into the public domain. However, IBM was ruled to have created a monopoly via its 1956 patent-sharing agreement with Sperry-Rand.[citation needed]
American antitrust laws did not directly affect IBM in Europe, where as of 1971 it had fewer competitors and more than 50% market share in almost every country. Customers preferred IBM because it was, as Datamation said, "the only truly international computer com
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#111
|
n said, "the only truly international computer company", able to serve clients almost anywhere. Rivals such as ICL, CII, and Siemens began to cooperate to preserve a European computer industry.[149]
Key events
[edit]1970
[edit]- System/370. IBM announces System/370 as successor to System/360.[citation needed]
- Relational databases. IBM introduces relational databases which call for information stored within a computer to be arranged in easy-to-interpret tables to access and manage large amounts
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#112
|
nterpret tables to access and manage large amounts of data. Today, most database structures are based on the IBM concept of relational databases.[citation needed]
- Office copiers. IBM introduces its first of three models of xerographic copiers. These machines mark the first commercial use of organic photoconductors which since became the dominant technology.[citation needed]
1971
[edit]- Speech recognition. IBM achieves its first operational application of speech recognition, which enables engi
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#113
|
lication of speech recognition, which enables engineers servicing equipment to talk to and receive spoken answers from a computer that can recognize about 5,000 words. Today, IBM's ViaVoice recognition technology has a vocabulary of 64,000 words and a 260,000-word back-up dictionary.[154]
- Floppy disk. IBM introduces the floppy disk. Convenient and portable, the floppy becomes a personal computer industry standard for storing data.[155]
1973
[edit]- Winchester storage technology. The IBM 3340 d
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#114
|
it]- Winchester storage technology. The IBM 3340 disk unit – known as "Winchester" after IBM's internal project name – is introduced, more than doubling the information density on disk surfaces. It featured a smaller, lighter read/write head that rode on an air film only 18 millionths of an inch thick. Winchester technology was adopted by the industry and used for the next two decades.[156]
- Nobel Prize. Dr. Leo Esaki, an IBM Fellow who joined the company in 1960, shares the 1973 Nobel Prize in
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#115
|
he company in 1960, shares the 1973 Nobel Prize in physics for his 1958 discovery of the phenomenon of electron tunneling. His discovery of the semiconductor junction called the Esaki diode finds wide use in electronics applications. More importantly, his work in the field of semiconductors lays a foundation for further exploration in the electronic transport of solids.[157]
1974
[edit]- SNA. IBM announces Systems Network Architecture (SNA), a networking protocol for computing systems. SNA is a
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#116
|
tworking protocol for computing systems. SNA is a uniform set of rules and procedures for computer communications to free computer users from the technical complexities of communicating through local, national, and international computer networks. SNA becomes the most widely used system for data processing until more open architecture standards were approved in the 1990s.[158]
1975–1992: Information revolution, rise of software and PC industries
[edit]President of IBM John R. Opel became CEO in
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#117
|
[edit]President of IBM John R. Opel became CEO in 1981.[159] IBM was one of the world's largest companies and had a 62% share of the mainframe computer market that year.[160] While frequently relocated employees and families still joked that IBM stood for "I've Been Moved", and employees of acquisitions feared that formal IBM employees would change the culture of their more casual offices,[161] IBM no longer required white shirts for male employees, who still wore conservative suits when meeting
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#118
|
es, who still wore conservative suits when meeting customers. Former employees such as Gene Amdahl used their training to found and lead many competitors[31] and suppliers.[162]
Expecting Japanese competition, IBM in the late 1970s began investing in manufacturing to lower costs, offering volume discounts and lower prices to large customers, and introducing new products more frequently.[150] The company also sometimes used non-IBM components in products,[151] and sometimes resold others' product
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#119
|
roducts,[151] and sometimes resold others' products as its own.[163] In 1980 it introduced its first computer terminal compatible with non-IBM equipment,[164] and Displaywriter was the first new product less expensive than the competition.[160] IBM's share of the overall computer market, however, declined from 60% in 1970 to 32% in 1980.[165] Perhaps distracted by the long-running antitrust lawsuit,[31] the "Colossus of Armonk" missed the fast-growing minicomputer market during the 1970s,[163][1
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#120
|
owing minicomputer market during the 1970s,[163][166][167][168] and was behind rivals such as Wang, Hewlett-Packard (HP), and Control Data in other areas.[165]
In 1979 BusinessWeek asked, "Is IBM just another stodgy, mature company?" By 1981 its stock price had declined by 22%.[165] IBM's earnings for the first half of the year grew by 5.3% – one third of the inflation rate – while those of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) grew by more than 35%.[164] Although IBM began selling minicomputers,[
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#121
|
%.[164] Although IBM began selling minicomputers,[169] in January 1982 the Justice Department ended the antitrust suit, after IBM unbundled services[170] and, as The New York Times reported, experts concluded that IBM no longer dominated the computer industry.[160]
IBM wished to avoid the same outcome with the new personal computer industry.[168] The company studied the market for years and, as with UNIVAC, others like Apple Computer entered it first;[31] IBM did not want a product with a rival'
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#122
|
irst;[31] IBM did not want a product with a rival's logo on corporate customers' desks.[171] The company opened its first Product Center retail store in November 1980,[172] and a team in the Boca Raton, Florida, office built the IBM PC using commercial off-the-shelf components. The new computer debuted on August 12, 1981[151] from the Entry Systems Division led by Don Estridge. IBM immediately became more of a presence in the consumer marketplace, thanks to the memorable Little Tramp advertising
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#123
|
, thanks to the memorable Little Tramp advertising campaign. Though not a spectacular machine by technological standards of the day, the IBM PC brought together all of the most desirable features of a computer into one small machine. It had 128 kilobytes of memory (expandable to 256 kilobytes), one or two floppy disks and an optional color monitor. And it had the prestige of the IBM brand. Although not inexpensive, with a base price of US$1,565 it was affordable for businesses – and many busines
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#124
|
t was affordable for businesses – and many businesses purchased PCs. Reassured by the IBM name, they began buying these microcomputers on their own budgets aimed at numerous applications that corporate computer departments did not, and in many cases could not, accommodate. Typically, these purchases were not by corporate computer departments, as the PC was not seen as a "proper" computer. Purchases were often instigated by middle managers and senior staff who saw the potential – once the revolut
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#125
|
ior staff who saw the potential – once the revolutionary VisiCalc spreadsheet, the killer app, had been surpassed by a far more powerful and stable product, Lotus 1-2-3.[citation needed]
IBM's dominance of the mainframe market in Europe and the US encouraged existing customers to buy the PC,[171][173] and vice versa; as sales of what had been an experiment in a new market became a substantial part of IBM's financials, the company found that customers also bought larger IBM computers.[174][166][1
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#126
|
mers also bought larger IBM computers.[174][166][161] Unlike the BUNCH and other rivals IBM quickly adjusted to the retail market,[171][175] with its own sales force competing with outside retailers for the first time.[161] By 1985 IBM was the world's most profitable industrial company,[161] and its sales of personal computers were larger than that of minicomputers despite having been in the latter market since the early 1970s.[169]
By 1983 industry analyst Gideon Gartner warned that IBM "is cre
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#127
|
try analyst Gideon Gartner warned that IBM "is creating a dangerous situation for competitors in the marketplace".[31] The company helped others by defining technical standards and creating large new software markets,[174][176][150] but the new aggressiveness that began in the late 1970s helped it dominate areas like computer leasing and computer-aided design.[150] Free from the antitrust case, IBM was present in every computer market other than supercomputers, and entered communications[176] by
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#128
|
supercomputers, and entered communications[176] by purchasing Rolm – the first acquisition in 18 years – and 18% of MCI.[161] The company was so important to component suppliers that it urged them to diversify. When IBM (61% of revenue) abruptly reduced orders from Miniscribe shares of not only Miniscribe but that of uninvolved companies that sold to IBM fell, as investors feared their vulnerability.[162] IBM was also vulnerable when suppliers could not fulfill orders,[177] and customers and dea
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#129
|
uld not fulfill orders,[177] and customers and dealers also feared becoming overdependent;[171][150] the PC was so popular in 1983 that dealers only received 60% or less of the inventory they wanted.[178]
The IBM PC AT's 1984 debut startled the industry. Rivals admitted that they did not expect the low price of the sophisticated product. IBM's attack on every area of the computer industry and entry into communications caused competitors, analysts, and the press to speculate that it would again b
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#130
|
, and the press to speculate that it would again be sued for antitrust.[179][180][161] Datamation and others said that the company's continued growth might hurt the United States, by suppressing startups with new technology.[150] Gartner Group estimated in 1985 that of the 100 largest data-processing companies, IBM had 41% of all revenue and 69% of profit. Its computer revenue was about nine times that of second-place DEC, and larger than that of IBM's six largest Japanese competitors combined.
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#131
|
IBM's six largest Japanese competitors combined. The 22% profit margin was three times the 6.7% average for the other 99 companies. Competitors complained to Congress, ADAPSO discussed the company with the Justice Department, and European governments worried about IBM's influence but feared affecting its more than 100,000 employees there at 19 facilities.[150]
However, the company soon lost its lead in both PC hardware and software, thanks in part to its unprecedented (for IBM) decision to cont
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#132
|
rt to its unprecedented (for IBM) decision to contract PC components to outside companies like Microsoft and Intel. Up to this point in its history, IBM relied on a vertically integrated strategy, building most key components of its systems itself, including processors, operating systems, peripherals, databases and the like. In an attempt to accelerate the time-to-market for the PC, IBM chose not to build a proprietary operating system and microprocessor. Instead, it sourced these vital componen
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#133
|
rocessor. Instead, it sourced these vital components from Microsoft and Intel respectively. Ironically, in a decade which marked the end of IBM's monopoly, it was this fateful decision by IBM that passed the sources of its monopolistic power (operating system and processor architecture) to Microsoft and Intel, paving the way for rise of PC compatibles and the creation of hundreds of billions of dollars of market value outside of IBM.[citation needed]
John Akers became IBM's CEO in 1985. During t
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#134
|
ded]
John Akers became IBM's CEO in 1985. During the 1980s, IBM's investment in building its research organization produced four Nobel Prize winners in physics, achieving breakthroughs in mathematics, memory storage and telecommunications, and expanded computing capabilities. In 1980, IBM researcher John Cocke introduced Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC). Cocke received both the National Medal of Technology and the National Medal of Science for his innovation, but IBM itself failed to rec
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#135
|
e for his innovation, but IBM itself failed to recognize the importance of RISC, and lost the lead in RISC technology to Sun Microsystems.[citation needed]
In 1984 the company partnered with Sears to develop a pioneering online home banking and shopping service for home PCs that launched in 1988 as Prodigy. Despite a strong reputation and anticipating many of the features, functions, and technology that characterize the online experience of today, the venture was plagued by overly conservative m
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#136
|
, the venture was plagued by overly conservative management decisions, and was eventually sold in the mid-1990s.[citation needed]
The IBM token-ring local area network, introduced in 1985, permitted personal computer users to exchange information and share printers and files within a building or complex. In 1988, IBM partnered with the University of Michigan and MCI Communications to create the National Science Foundation Network (NSFNet), an important step in the creation of the Internet. But w
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#137
|
ortant step in the creation of the Internet. But within five years the company backed away from this early lead in Internet protocols and router technologies in order to support its existing SNA revenue stream, thereby missing a boom market of the 1990s. Still, IBM investments and advances in microprocessors, disk drives, network technologies, software applications, and online commerce in the 1980s set the stage for the emergence of the connected world in the 1990s.[citation needed]
However, by
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#138
|
world in the 1990s.[citation needed]
However, by the end of the decade, IBM was in trouble. It was a bloated organization of some 400,000 employees that was heavily invested in too many low margin, transactional, commodity businesses. Technologies IBM invented and or commercialized – DRAM, hard disk drives, the PC, electric typewriters – were starting to erode. The company had a massive international organization characterized by redundant processes and functions – its cost structure couldn't c
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#139
|
sses and functions – its cost structure couldn't compete with smaller, less diversified competitors. Additionally, the back-to-back revolutions – the PC and the client-server – combined to undermine IBM's core mainframe business. The PC revolution placed computers directly in the hands of millions of people. It was followed by the client/server revolution, which sought to link PCs (the "clients") with larger computers that labored in the background (the "servers" that served data and application
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#140
|
nd (the "servers" that served data and applications to client machines). Both revolutions transformed the way customers viewed, used and bought technology. And both fundamentally rocked IBM and its mainframe competitors. Businesses' purchasing decisions were put in the hands of individuals and departments – not the places where IBM had long-standing customer relationships. Piece-part technologies took precedence over integrated solutions. The focus was on the desktop and personal productivity, n
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#141
|
us was on the desktop and personal productivity, not on business applications across the enterprise. As a result, earnings – which had been at or above US$5 billion since the early 1980s, dropped by more than a third to US$3 billion in 1989. A brief spike in earnings in 1990 did not last as corporate spending continued to shift from high-profit margin mainframes to lower margin microprocessor-based systems. In addition, corporate downsizing was in full swing.[citation needed]
Radical changes wer
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#142
|
n full swing.[citation needed]
Radical changes were considered and implemented. As IBM assessed the situation, it was clear that competition and innovation in the computer industry were now taking place along segmented, versus vertically integrated lines, where computer industry leaders emerged in their respective domains. Examples included Intel in microprocessors, Microsoft in desktop software, Novell in networking, HP in printers, Seagate in disk drives and Oracle Corporation in database soft
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#143
|
isk drives and Oracle Corporation in database software. IBM's dominance in personal computers was challenged by the likes of Compaq and later Dell. Recognizing this trend, management, with the support of the Board of Directors, began to implement a plan to split IBM into increasingly autonomous business units (e.g. processors, storage, software, services, printers, etc.) to compete more effectively with competitors that were more focused and nimble and had lower cost structures.[citation needed]
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#144
|
le and had lower cost structures.[citation needed]
IBM also began spinning off its many divisions into autonomous subsidiaries (so-called "Baby Blues") in an attempt to make the company more manageable and to streamline IBM by having other investors finance those companies.[181][182] These included AdStar, dedicated to disk drives and other data storage products (on creation the largest data storage business in the world);[183] IBM Application Business Systems, dedicated to mid-range computers;
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#145
|
siness Systems, dedicated to mid-range computers; IBM Enterprise Systems, dedicated to mainframes; Pennant Systems, dedicated to mid-range and large printers; Lexmark, dedicated to small printers, keyboards, and typewriters (such as the Selectric); and more.[184] Lexmark was acquired by Clayton & Dubilier in a leveraged buyout shortly after its formation.[185]
In September 1992, IBM combined and spun off their various non-mainframe and non-midrange, personal computer manufacturing divisions into
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#146
|
ge, personal computer manufacturing divisions into an autonomous wholly owned subsidiary known as the IBM Personal Computer Company (IBM PC Co.).[186][187] This corporate restructuring came after IBM reported a sharp drop in profit margins during the second quarter of fiscal year 1992; market analysts attributed the drop to a fierce price war in the personal computer market over the summer of 1992.[188] The corporate restructuring was one of the largest and most expensive in history up to that p
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#147
|
largest and most expensive in history up to that point.[189] By the summer of 1993, the IBM PC Co. had divided into multiple business units itself, including Ambra Computer Corporation and the IBM Power Personal Systems Group, the former an attempt to design and market "clone" computers of IBM's own architecture and the latter responsible for IBM's PowerPC-based workstations.[190][191]
These efforts failed to halt the slide. A decade of steady acceptance and widening corporate growth of local ar
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#148
|
ceptance and widening corporate growth of local area networking technology, a trend headed by Novell Inc. and other vendors, and its logical counterpart, the ensuing decline of mainframe sales, brought about a wake-up call for IBM. After two consecutive years of reporting losses in excess of $1 billion, on January 19, 1993, IBM announced a US$8.10 billion loss for the 1992 financial year, which was then the largest single-year corporate loss in U.S. history.[192] All told, between 1991 and 1993,
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#149
|
.S. history.[192] All told, between 1991 and 1993, the company posted net losses of nearly $16 billion. IBM's three-decade-long Golden Age, triggered by Watson Jr. in the 1950s, was over. The computer industry now viewed IBM as no longer relevant, an organizational dinosaur. And hundreds of thousands of IBMers lost their jobs, including CEO John Akers.[citation needed]
Key events
[edit]- mid-1970s: IBM VNET. VNET was an international computer networking system deployed in the mid-1970s, providin
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#150
|
working system deployed in the mid-1970s, providing email and file-transfer for IBM. By September 1979, the network had grown to include 285 mainframe nodes in Europe, Asia, and North America.[citation needed]
- 1975: Fractals. IBM researcher Benoit Mandelbrot conceives fractal geometry – the concept that seemingly irregular shapes can have identical structure at all scales. This new geometry makes it possible to describe mathematically the kinds of irregularities existing in nature. Fractals la
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#151
|
of irregularities existing in nature. Fractals later make a great impact on engineering, economics, metallurgy, art, and health sciences, and are also applied in the field of computer graphics and animation.[193]
- 1975: IBM 5100 Portable computer. IBM introduces the 5100 Portable Computer, a 50 lb. desktop machine that put computer capabilities at the fingertips of engineers, analysts, statisticians, and other problem-solvers. More "luggable" than portable, the 5100 can serve as a terminal for
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#152
|
han portable, the 5100 can serve as a terminal for the System/370 and costs from $9000 to $20,000.[194]
- 1976: Space Shuttle. The Enterprise, the first vehicle in the U.S. Space Shuttle program, makes its debut at Palmdale, California, carrying IBM AP-101 flight computers and special hardware built by IBM.[citation needed]
- 1976: Laser printer. The first IBM 3800 printer is installed. The 3800 is the first commercial printer to combine laser technology and electrophotography. The technology sp
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#153
|
chnology and electrophotography. The technology speeds the printing of bank statements, premium notices, and other high-volume documents, and remains a workhorse for billing and accounts receivable departments.[195]
- 1977: Data Encryption Standard. IBM-developed Data Encryption Standard (DES), a cryptographic algorithm, is adopted by the U.S. National Bureau of Standards as a national standard.[196]
- 1979: Retail checkout. IBM develops the Universal Product Code (UPC) in the 1970s as a method
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#154
|
ersal Product Code (UPC) in the 1970s as a method for embedding pricing and identification information on individual retail items. In 1979, IBM applies holographic scanner technology in IBM's supermarket checkout station to read the UPC stripes on merchandise, one of the first major commercial uses of holography. IBM's support of the UPC concept helps lead to its widespread acceptance by retail and other industries worldwide.[197]
- 1979: Thin film recording heads. Instead of using hand-wound wi
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#155
|
lm recording heads. Instead of using hand-wound wire structures as coils for inductive elements, IBM researchers substitute thin film "wires" patterned by optical lithography. This leads to higher performance recording heads at a reduced cost and establishes IBM's leadership in "areal density": storing the most data in the least space. The result is higher-capacity and higher-performance disk drives.[198]
- 1979: Overcoming barriers to technology use. Since 1946, with its announcement of Chinese
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#156
|
use. Since 1946, with its announcement of Chinese and Arabic ideographic character typewriters, IBM has worked to overcome cultural and physical barriers to the use of technology. As part of these ongoing efforts, IBM introduces the 3270 Kanji Display Terminal; the System/34 Kanji System with an ideographic feature, which processes more than 11,000 Japanese and Chinese characters; and the Audio Typing Unit for sight-impaired typists.[citation needed]
- 1979: First multi-function copier/printer.
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#157
|
eded]
- 1979: First multi-function copier/printer. A communication-enabled laser printer and photocopier combination was introduced, the IBM 6670 Information Distributor. This was the first multi-function (copier/printer) device for the office market.[citation needed]
- 1980: Thermal conduction modules. IBM introduces the 3081 processor, the company's most powerful to date, which features Thermal Conduction Modules. In 1990, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., awards its
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#158
|
trical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., awards its 1990 Corporate Innovation Recognition to IBM for the development of the Multilayer Ceramic Thermal Conduction Module for high performance computers.[199]
- 1980: Reduced instruction set computing (RISC) architecture. IBM successfully builds the first prototype computer employing IBM Fellow John Cocke's RISC architecture. RISC simplified the instructions given to computers, making them faster and more powerful. Today, RISC architecture is the bas
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#159
|
more powerful. Today, RISC architecture is the basis of most workstations and widely viewed as the dominant computing architecture.[200]
- 1981: IBM PC. The IBM Personal Computer goes mass market and helps revolutionize the way the world does business. A year later, Time magazine gives its "Person of the Year" award to the Personal Computer.[201]
- 1981: LASIK surgery. Three IBM scientists invent the excimer laser surgical procedure that later forms the basis of LASIK and PRK corrective eye surg
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#160
|
rms the basis of LASIK and PRK corrective eye surgeries.[202]
- 1982: Antitrust suit. The United States antitrust suit against IBM, filed in 1969, is being dropped by assistant attorney general William F. Baxter as being "without merit". The reasons given were that the government was backing off antitrust actions,[145] IBM also lost its dominance.[203] As was later discovered Baxter failed to disclose that he had been retained as a consultant defending IBM in private antitrust cases.[145]
- 1982
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#161
|
ending IBM in private antitrust cases.[145]
- 1982: Trellis-coded modulation. Trellis-coded modulation (TCM) is first used in voice-band modems to send data at higher rates over telephone channels. Today, TCM is applied in a large variety of terrestrial and satellite-based transmission systems as a key technique for achieving faster and more reliable digital transmission.[204]
- 1983: IBM PCjr. IBM announces the widely anticipated PCjr., an attempt to enter the home computing marketplace. The pr
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#162
|
pt to enter the home computing marketplace. The product, however, fails to capture the fancy of consumers due to its lack of compatibility with IBM PC software, its price point, and its unfortunate 'chiclet' keyboard design. IBM terminates the product after 18 months of disappointing sales.[205]
- 1984: IBM 3480 magnetic tape system. The industry's most advanced magnetic tape system, the IBM 3480, introduces a new generation of tape drives that replace the familiar reel of tape with an easy-to-h
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#163
|
eplace the familiar reel of tape with an easy-to-handle cartridge. The 3480 was the industry's first tape system to use "thin-film" recording head technology.[citation needed]
- 1984: Sexual discrimination. IBM adds sexual orientation to the company's non-discrimination policy. IBM becomes one of the first major companies to make this change.[206][better source needed]
- 1984: ROLM partnership/acquisition. IBM acquires ROLM Corporation for $1.25 billion.[161] Based in Santa Clara, CA (subsequent
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#164
|
billion.[161] Based in Santa Clara, CA (subsequent to an existing partnership),[207] IBM intended to develop digital telephone switches to compete directly with Northern Telecom and AT&T.[208] Two of the most popular systems were the large scale PABX coined ROLM CBX and the smaller PABX coined ROLM Redwood. ROLM is later acquired by Siemens AG in 1989–1992.[209][210]
- 1985: MCI. IBM acquires 18% of MCI Communications, the United States's second-largest long-distance carrier, in June 1985.[161]
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#165
|
largest long-distance carrier, in June 1985.[161]
- 1985: RP3. Sparked in part by national concerns over losing its technology leadership in the early 1980s, IBM re-enters the supercomputing field with the RP3 (IBM Research Parallel Processor Prototype). IBM researchers worked with scientists from the New York University's Courant Institute of Mathematical Science to design RP3, an experimental computer consisting of up to 512 processors, linked in parallel and connected to as many as two billio
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#166
|
in parallel and connected to as many as two billion characters of main memory. Over the next five years, IBM provides more than $30 million in products and support to a supercomputer facility established at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.[211]
- 1985: Token Ring Network. IBM's Token Ring technology brings a new level of control to local area networks and quickly becomes an industry standard for networks that connect printers, workstations and servers.[212]
- 1986: IBM Almaden Research Ce
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#167
|
and servers.[212]
- 1986: IBM Almaden Research Center. IBM Research dedicates the Almaden Research Center in California. Today, Almaden is IBM's second-largest laboratory focused on storage systems, technology and computer science.[213]
- 1986: Nobel Prize: Scanning tunneling microscopy. IBM Fellows Gerd K. Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer of the IBM Zurich Research Laboratory win the 1986 Nobel Prize in physics for their work in scanning tunneling microscopy. Drs. Binnig and Rohrer are recognized fo
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#168
|
croscopy. Drs. Binnig and Rohrer are recognized for developing a powerful microscopy technique which makes images of surfaces where individual atoms may be seen.[214]
- 1987: Nobel Prize: High-Temperature Superconductivity. J. Georg Bednorz and IBM Fellow Alex Müller of the IBM Zurich Research Laboratory receive the 1987 Nobel Prize for physics for their breakthrough discovery of high-temperature superconductivity in a new class of materials. They discover superconductivity in ceramic oxides tha
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#169
|
y discover superconductivity in ceramic oxides that carry electricity without loss of energy at higher temperatures than any other superconductor.[215]
- 1987: Antivirus tools. As personal computers become vulnerable to attack from viruses, a small research group at IBM develops a suite of antivirus tools. The effort leads to the establishment of the High Integrity Computing Laboratory (HICL) at IBM. HICL goes on to pioneer the science of theoretical and observational computer virus epidemiology
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#170
|
ical and observational computer virus epidemiology.[216]
- 1987: Special needs access. IBM Researchers demonstrate the feasibility for blind computer users to read information directly from computer screens with the aid of an experimental mouse. And in 1988 the IBM Personal System/2 Screen Reader is announced, permitting blind or visually impaired people to hear the text as it is displayed on the screen in the same way a sighted person would see it. This is the first in the IBM Independence Seri
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#171
|
it. This is the first in the IBM Independence Series of products for computer users with special needs.[217]
- 1988: IBM AS/400. IBM introduces the IBM Application System/400, a new family of easy-to-use computers designed for small and intermediate-sized companies. As part of the introduction, IBM and IBM Business Partners worldwide announce the availability of more than 1,000 software packages resulting in the AS/400 becoming a popular business computing system.[218]
- 1988: National Science F
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#172
|
computing system.[218]
- 1988: National Science Foundation Network (NSFNET). IBM collaborates with the Merit Network, MCI Communications, the State of Michigan, and the National Science Foundation to upgrade and expand the 56 kbit/s NSFNET to 1.5 Mbit/s (T1) and later 45 Mbit/s (T3). This partnership provides the network infrastructure and lays the groundwork for the explosive growth of the Internet in the 1990s. The NSFNET upgrade boosts network capacity and speed allowing more intensive forms
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#173
|
k capacity and speed allowing more intensive forms of data, such as the graphics, to travel across the Internet.[219]
- 1989: Silicon germanium transistors. The replacing of expensive and exotic materials like gallium arsenide with silicon germanium (known as SiGe), championed by IBM Fellow Bernie Meyerson, creates faster chips at lower costs. Introducing germanium into the base layer of an otherwise all-silicon bipolar transistor allows for improvements in operating frequency, current, noise an
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#174
|
ovements in operating frequency, current, noise and power capabilities.[220]
- 1990: System/390. IBM introduces the System/390 family. IBM incorporates complementary metal oxide silicon (CMOS) based processors into System/390 Parallel Enterprise Server in 1995. In 1998 the System/390 G5 Parallel Enterprise Server 10-way Turbo model exceeded the 1,000 MIPS barrier.[221]
- 1990: RISC System/6000. IBM announces the RISC System/6000, a family of nine workstations that are among the fastest and most
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#175
|
workstations that are among the fastest and most powerful in the industry. The RISC System/6000 uses Reduced instruction set computing technology, a computer design pioneered by IBM that simplifies processing steps to speed the execution of commands.[222]
- 1990: Moving individual atoms. Donald M. Eigler, a physicist and IBM Fellow at the IBM Almaden Research Center demonstrated the ability to manipulate individual atoms using a scanning tunneling microscope, writing I-B-M using 35 individual x
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#176
|
ng microscope, writing I-B-M using 35 individual xenon atoms.[223]
- 1990: Environmental programs. IBM joins 14 U.S. corporations to establish a worldwide program to achieve environmental, health and safety goals by continuously improving environmental management practices and performance. IBM has invested more than $1 billion since 1973 to provide environmental protection for the communities in which IBM facilities are located.[224]
- 1991: Services business. IBM reenters the computer services
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#177
|
ices business. IBM reenters the computer services business through the formation of the Integrated Systems Solution Corporation. Despite being in compliance with the provisions of the 1956 Consent Decree, in four years ISSC becomes the second largest provider of computer services. The new business becomes one of IBM's primary revenue streams.[225]
- 1992: Personal computer division divestiture. IBM combines and spins off their various non-mainframe and non-midrange, personal computer manufacturi
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#178
|
me and non-midrange, personal computer manufacturing divisions into an autonomous wholly owned subsidiary known as the IBM Personal Computer Company (IBM PC Co.) following a fierce price war in the PC market leading to shrinking profit margins for IBM. This restructuring is one of the largest and most expensive in history.[189]
1993–2018: IBM's near disaster and rebirth
[edit]In April 1993, IBM hired Louis V. Gerstner Jr. as its new CEO. For the first time since 1914 IBM had recruited a leader f
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#179
|
first time since 1914 IBM had recruited a leader from outside its ranks. Gerstner had been chairman and CEO of RJR Nabisco for four years, and had previously spent 11 years as a top executive at American Express. Gerstner brought with him a customer-oriented sensibility and the strategic-thinking expertise that he had honed through years as a management consultant at McKinsey & Co. Recognizing that his first priority was to stabilize the company, he adopted a triage mindset and took quick action
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#180
|
he adopted a triage mindset and took quick action. His early decisions included recommitting to the mainframe, selling the Federal Systems Division to Loral in order to replenish the company's cash coffers, continuing to shrink the workforce (reaching a low of 220,000 employees in 1994), and driving significant cost reductions within the company. Most importantly, Gerstner decided to reverse the move to spin off IBM business units into separate companies. He recognized that one of IBM's strengt
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#181
|
companies. He recognized that one of IBM's strengths was its ability to provide integrated solutions for customers – more than piece parts or components. Splitting the company would have destroyed that IBM advantage.[226]
These initial steps worked. In 1994 IBM turned a profit of $3 billion. Stabilization was not Gerstner's endgame – the restoration of IBM's once great reputation was. To do that, he needed a winning business strategy.[227] Over the next decade, Gerstner shed commodity businesses
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#182
|
he next decade, Gerstner shed commodity businesses and focused on high-margin opportunities. IBM divested itself of low margin industries (DRAM, IBM Network, personal printers, and hard drives).[citation needed]
By building upon the decision to keep the company whole, IBM built a global services business and a reputation as a technology integrator. IBM claimed that the services business became brand agnostic integrating whatever technologies the client required, even if they were from an IBM com
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#183
|
client required, even if they were from an IBM competitor.[228] IBM augmented this services business with the 2002 acquisition of the consultancy division of PricewaterhouseCoopers for $3.5 billion US.[229]
Another high margin opportunity IBM invested in was software. Starting in 1995 with its acquisition of Lotus Development Corp., IBM built its software portfolio from one brand, IBM DB2, to five: DB2, Lotus, WebSphere, Tivoli, and Rational. Content to leave the consumer applications business t
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#184
|
tent to leave the consumer applications business to other firms, IBM's software strategy focused on middleware – the vital software that connects operating systems to applications. The middleware business played to IBM's strengths, and its higher margins improved the company's bottom line significantly as the century came to an end.[230]
Not all software that IBM developed was successful. While the operating system OS/2 was arguably technically superior to Microsoft Windows 95, OS/2 sales were l
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#185
|
uperior to Microsoft Windows 95, OS/2 sales were largely concentrated in networked computing used by corporate professionals. OS/2 failed to develop much penetration in the consumer and stand-alone desktop PC segments. There were reports that it could not be installed properly on IBM's own Aptiva series of home PCs.[231]
Microsoft made an offer in 1994 stipulating that if IBM ended development of OS/2 completely, then it would receive the same terms as Compaq for a license of Windows 95. IBM ref
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#186
|
rms as Compaq for a license of Windows 95. IBM refused and instead went with an "IBM First" strategy of promoting OS/2 Warp and disparaging Windows, as IBM aimed to drive sales of its own software and hardware. By 1995, Windows 95 negotiations between IBM and Microsoft, which were difficult, stalled when IBM purchased Lotus Development whose Lotus SmartSuite would have directly competed with Microsoft Office. As a result, IBM received their license later than their competitors which hurt sales o
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#187
|
se later than their competitors which hurt sales of IBM PCs. IBM officials later conceded that OS/2 would not have been a viable operating system to keep them in the PC business.[232][233]
While IBM hardware and technologies were relatively de-emphasized in Gerstner's three-legged business model, they were not relegated to secondary status. The company brought its research organization to bear more closely on its existing product lines and development processes. While Internet applications and d
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#188
|
pment processes. While Internet applications and deep computing overtook client servers as key business technology priorities, mainframes returned to relevance. IBM reinvigorated their mainframe line with CMOS technologies, which made them among the most powerful and cost-efficient in the marketplace.[234] Investments in microelectronics research and manufacturing made IBM a world leader in specialized, high margin chip production – it developed 200 mm wafer processes in 1992, and 300 mm wafers
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM#189
|
200 mm wafer processes in 1992, and 300 mm wafers within the decade.[235] IBM-designed chips were used in PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii game consoles. IBM also regained the lead in supercomputing with high-end machines based upon scalable parallel processor technology.
Equally significant in IBM's revival was its reentry into the popular mindset. On October 5, 1992, at the COMDEX computer expo, IBM announced the first ThinkPad laptop computer, the 700C. The ThinkPad,[236] a premium machine wh
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.