Microsoft Hatred FAQ

[John W. Kennedy]

Rhino wrote:
> "John W. Kennedy" <jwkenne at attglobal.net> wrote in message
> news:4mi4f.28813$Ge5.16418 at fe10.lga...
> 
>>Rhino wrote:
>>
>>>Everyone
>>>else was still using typewriters - which was IBM's bread and butter in
> 
> those
> 
>>>days - for their business needs.
>>
>>Oh dear, no. Not quite. There were, going back decades, machines that
>>used punched cards, relays, stepper wheels, and punched cards. It was
>>/that/ that was the foundation of IBM's business, and IBM had an
>>effective monopoly. This was not altogether due to evil; their one
>>competitor, Remington Rand, made machines that were slightly better, but
>>had to be factory-programmed, whereas IBM's machines used panels full of
>>jumper wires, and the panels themselves could be swapped, so that you
>>could have a "program library" of prewired panels. Which would /you/ buy?
>>
>>Remington Rand made a similar mistake with computers. They wouldn't give
>>you a programming manual until you contracted to buy the bloody thing.
>>IBM pulled ahead of them during the year when Univac computers were real
>>and IBM computers weren't, and they never looked back.
>>
> 
> Sorry, my mistake. I knew that IBM had collators and such things back in
> those days but I didn't know what percentage of their business they
> comprised. I used to work with a long-time IBMer who had started out in
> marketing in the 60s or so and I got the impression from him that
> typewriters were still the bulk of IBM's business. Perhaps he was just in
> that division and didn't know the "big picture".

Typewriters may, for all I know to the contrary, have been their main 
source of profit. But it wasn't what IBM was /about/. They got into the 
typewriter business by buying up a failing company.

IBM also made master/slave clock systems for schools and factories, 
including tower clocks (the IBM website has some fascinating archive 
material). They made dictation systems. They even made scales for 
butchers. But the heart of the business was punched cards, and one of 
the main reasons they became the leaders in the computer field is that 
computers were a natural extension of what they were already doing.

-- 
John W. Kennedy
"...when you're trying to build a house of cards, the last thing you 
should do is blow hard and wave your hands like a madman."
   --  Rupert Goodwins