Microsoft Hatred FAQ

[Rhino]

"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".

My apologies for inadvertently misleading anyone. These events took place
before my time so I probably should have researched more before making those
remarks.

Rhino