Tag: IBM
Tech Time Warp: The early business dealings that set the stage for Microsoft dominance
This week marked the 45th anniversary of a pivotal event in Microsoft history: Nov. 6, 1980, the date the then-fledgling company signed a contract with IBM to develop an operating system for the IBM PC. IBM paid Microsoft $700,000 in...
Tech Time Warp: The slide rule becomes obsolete
“150 Extra Engineers.” This 1952 IBM advertisement for the IBM Electronic Calculator is not dissimilar from today’s marketing for the latest artificial intelligence (AI) innovations: “An IBM Electronic Calculator speeds through thousands of intricate computations so quickly that on many...
Tech Time Warp: The public learns about the SAGE air defense system
Do you know those massive computers in old movies? The ones with rows of blinking lights and lots of buttons, as featured in Dr. Strangelove and so many other films? Those weren’t the product of a Hollywood imagination—they were based...
Pioneers in Tech: Nicholas Metropolis & and the MANIAC
While not the namesake of an Academy Award-winning film, “Nicholas Metropolis” is a name you’re not likely to forget once you’ve read this edition of Pioneers in Tech. Born on June 11, 1915, in Chicago, Nicholas Constantine Metropolis was recruited...
Pioneers in Tech: An Wang, a key player in technology’s core memories
The layperson might not immediately name An Wang as a 20th-century technical giant, but we certainly should. The Chinese American computer engineer invented the magnetic pulse transfer controlling device, which, as you will learn in this edition of Pioneers in...
Tech Time Warp: Not a stretch about IBM supercomputer
It’s ironic that a computer deemed “not good enough” could have reigned as the world’s fastest computer for three years and made a lasting impact on the tech industry. But that’s the story we dive into in this edition of...
Tech Time Warp: Time’s daring choice for “Machine of the Year”
Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” is an annual conversation starter. This year’s selection of megastar Taylor Swift not only delighted Swifties but also sparked a new TikTok trend. This edition of Tech Time Warp looks at what (instead of...
Pioneers in Tech: Gene Amdahl, “father” of mainframe computing
When you walk around with a computer in your hand or on your wrist, it’s easy to forget how much of the world still runs on mainframe computers. In this Pioneers in Tech, we look at how an estimated 10,000...
Tech Time Warp: Happy birthday to SHARE, the first computer user group
In this week’s edition of Tech Time Warp, we look at troubleshooting computer issues—or at least finding information about ideas to try—is far easier than it used to be. Simply type a description of the issue you’re experiencing into a...
Pioneers in Tech: Joan L. Mitchell, co-inventor of the JPEG
This week’s Pioneers in Tech looks at how today’s social media influencers owe much to Joan L. Mitchell, a self-professed “Sputnik baby” who came of age during the space race and ended up co-creating one of the file formats most...
