Thank You Ibm! Next Edition

Brian W. Kelly

Description

I began to write this book over twenty years ago. My purpose was to tell the true story about how IBM made too many companies successful by standing down rather than competing. As a Senior IBM Systems Engineer, I saw it all happen. The $ Trillion dollar PC marketplace is the biggest example of IBM's major losses. Yet, the PC was just one of many industry sub-segments over the years in which IBM failed miserably. We need more than ten fingers to count them all. This book tells all the great stories about how industries came into being and entrepreneurs often in their early twenties became billionaires. This book tells you which companies did the best; which regular guys became industry moguls; and who has the money today. Among other things, it tells us all who owes IBM the biggest thank you’s. This book in many ways is about Big Blue’s misgivings about being too successful in too many IT product areas. IBM Executives over the years from the CEO on down were all paid very well to manage all aspects of the company’s business. Unfortunately each and every CEO after the Watsons and T. Vincent Learson, focused on just one aspect of IBM – its mainframe business. So the IBM Chieftains lost just about every other opportunity including the PC. They simply handed very crafty “entrepreneurs,” the whole game. IBM created many industry billionaires simply by not watching its assets. Microsoft alone has four documented billionaires on its list which is topped by Bill Gates, the richest man in the world at $102 billion. Additionally, there are over 12,000 other Microsoft employees on the millionaire’s list. IBM paid for all of the zillionaires. In Chapter 1, I show each and every billionaire and a number of millionaires. I then go on in sixty-nine chapters to tell you the essence of the full Microsoft / IBM story along with many other stories of IBM squandering many other real business opportunities. These are enjoyable to read but hard to believe. You are going to love this book, designed by an IBM insider and told with respect for IBM and with the truth that all of these great stories deserve. You will not want to put this book down. Kelly not only gives the facts about the new billionaires; he also provides a history lesson about the entire industry that will capture your imagination. You’ll learn how all these billionaires got their money. The book begins with the introduction of the first computer and it takes you on a ride through all of the major events that occurred during each IBM CEO’s tenure. The story thus begins with Thomas Watson Sr, as CEO and continues chapter by chapter to the state of the computer industry today. Kelly does it all in 69 easy-to-read enjoyable chapters. Few books are must-read but Thank You IBM! will quickly be at the top of your list and America’s most read list.

Sujets

• Computer Science
• Computers
• Informatique
• Computadora
• Computer
• Ordinateur
• Business

Informations

• Publié par: Xlibris US
• Date de parution: 26 octobre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669852834
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

THANK YOU IBM! NEXT EDITION
 
The completed story of how IBM helped today’s technology millionaires and billionaires gain vast fortunes.
 

 
BRIAN W. KELLY
 
Copyright © 2022 by Brian W. Kelly.
 
 
ISBN:
Softcover
978-1-6698-5284-1

eBook
978-1-6698-5283-4
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
 
 
 
 
Rev. date: 10/26/2022
 
 
 
 
Xlibris
844-714-8691
www.Xlibris.com
847563
 
IBM is the oldest commercial computer company in the world. Its roots spring from the merger of The International Time Recording Company Computing Scale Company, and the Tabulating Machine Company in the 19 th century. The merged company became known as International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) in 1924.
IBM has coined many terms such as word processing, teleprocessing, and eBusiness over its 100 years of operation. The company has also done the background work for many computer sub-industries, such as disk, tape, data communications, personal computer, relational database, RISC processing, microchips, mainframes, and of course the IBM PC & others.
IBM continues to be the leader in mainframe computers and cloud computing, though at one time it dominated all areas of computing. Over the years, IBM’s concentration on mainframes permitted billionaires to be created in sub-industries, in which IBM unwittingly chose not to compete. For example, Bill Gates, who supplied just two software products for IBM’s 1981 PC has at times since then been the richest man in the world. IBM could have been a much more successful company if it had paid attention to its many different businesses. Since IBM did not pay attention, there are tens of thousands of extra millionaires & billionaires in the computer field, who one day should stop and thank IBM for their success. That’s what this book is about! Just say:
Thank You IBM!
CONTENTS
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Preface
About the Author
Section1 :      Introduction to the Book & Section I
Chapter 1 :      IBM’s Many Opportunities & Many Disappointments
Chapter 2 :      Fast Forward to Today… Has IBM improved? Will IBM Succeed?
Chapter 3 :      Can IBM Continue to Say “No” to Opportunities and Still Survive?
Chapter 4 :      The IBM Story Continues
Chapter 5 :      IBM Was Destined for Fortune.
Section2 :      The Watson Years
Chapter 6 :      IBM’s Thomas Watson Sr.: In Search of Continuous Excellence
Chapter 7 :      The Early IBM Product Line of Electromechanical Devices
Chapter 8 :      IBM’s Early Efforts with Real Computers
Chapter 9 :      Thomas Watson Jr. Assumes the IBM Presidency and the Chair
Chapter 10 :    The Mainframe Era Begins!
Chapter 11 :    Modern Mainframes
Chapter 12 :    IBM Small Business Computers
Chapter 13 :    IBM System/3 Starts a New Age
Chapter 14 :    The IBM System/38—the Most Advanced Computing System Ever
Chapter 15 :    The AS/400 Comes Invited to the System/38 Party
Chapter 16 :    IBM merges System i and System p computer lines (AS/400 & RS/6000)
Chapter 17 :    Thomas Watson Jr. Steps Down as Chairman and CEO
Section3 :      T. Vincent Learson and Frank T. Cary Move IBM Past the Watsons
Chapter 18 :    Starting with Learson
Chapter 19 :    Frank Cary, the Mainframe, Mini, and Micro CEO
Chapter 20 :    Digital Equipment Corporation Invents the Minicomputer
Chapter 21 :    Hewlett-Packard Enters Minicomputer Arena
Chapter 22 :    Data General Formed as a Minicomputer Company
Chapter 23 :    EMC Buys DG; Enters the Minicomputer Marketplace
Chapter 24 :    IBM’s Non-Minicomputer Minicomputers
Chapter 25 :    IBM Introduces the Series/1 as Bona Fide Mini
Chapter 26 :    MIT, IBM and the Early Development of Unix
Chapter 27 :    What is Unix and Why Does It Matter?
Chapter 28 :    Among Many Unix’s, Another Unix—Linux
Chapter 29 :    The Microcomputer Revolution
Chapter 30 :    Texas Instruments—a Micro Tech Pioneer and Eternal Innovator
Chapter 31 :    Shockley & Fairchild Semiconductor—the Pioneers
Chapter 32 :    Motorola the Chip Maker with Different Roots
Chapter 33 :    The Founding of Intel
Chapter 34 :    Zilog: Great Microcomputer Pioneer
Chapter 35 :    MOS Technologies / Commodore
Chapter 36 :    Radio Shack – First Personal Computer Company
Chapter 37 :    Apple Piqued Home Computer Aficionado in Us All
Chapter 38 :    A Key IBM Software Invention: Relational Database (RDBMS)
Chapter 39 :    Oracle Announces the First Commercial Relational Database
Chapter 40 :    IBM & Data Communications: Why Big Blue Failed?
Chapter 41 :    Teleprocessing: the Next Step beyond Card Readers and Printers
Chapter 42 :    IBM and Local Area Networks
Chapter 43 :    Cisco Soundly Defeats IBM in Networking
Section4 :      CEOs John Opel & John Akers Together Almost Sunk IBM
Chapter 44 :    John Opel—A Chairman with Lots of Spirit, Opportunity & Failure
Chapter 45 :    A Deeper Look at John Akers’ Years
Chapter 46 :    IBM Invented RISC Technology in 1974
Chapter 47 :    Sun Microsystems Makes It Big With RISC
Chapter 48 :    IBM RISC System 6000 (RS/6000) – A Great RISC/UNIX System
Chapter 49 :    RISC Power Architecture Has Produced the World’s Fastest Supercomputers
Chapter 50 :    IBM PC Introduced in Opel Years
Chapter 51 :    Appendix The PC Story Is a Story of IBM at Its Worst
Chapter 52 :    Compaq Beats IBM BIOS to Become Top PC Company
Chapter 53 :    Gateway Computer Company – 2000
Chapter 54 :    Dell Computer still on top
Chapter 55 :    IBM Says Good-By to the PC Industry
Chapter 56 :    Microsoft Becomes Champion of PC / x86 Software
Section5 :      Application Software: From Watson to Rometty
Chapter 57 :    What is Application Software?
Chapter 58 :    Business Application Software, Service Bureaus, & Clouds
Chapter 59 :    IBM Was Once the Application Software Leader
Chapter 60 :    Impact of Catamore Lawsuit on IBM Application Software Strategy
Chapter 61 :    IBM’s Post S/3 Systems -- Formal Application Software Packages
Chapter 62 :    IBM Failed in the Application Software Industry
Chapter 63 :    Shared Medical Systems (SMS)
Chapter 64 :    A Quick Look at IBM’s MAPICS Application and SAP
Chapter 65 :    SAP—The Best in ERP Software
Chapter 66 :    Small Companies — Application Software Millionaires
Chapter 67 :    Large Software Companies—Many Rich Entrepreneurs
Section6 :      Lou Gerstner, Ginni Rometty & Arvind Krishna—IBM’s Latest CEOs
Chapter 68 :    Lou Gerstner, The First CEO Not Bred in IBM’s Culture
Chapter 69 :    IBM’s Sam Palmisano and Ginni Rometty
Chapter 70 :    The Last IBM CEO—Arvind Krishna
DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to my immediate family.
My wife Pat makes everything work
My son, Brian has the gifts of goodness and magic
My son, Michael has the gifts of love and humor and decisiveness
My daughter, Kathleen has the gift of sweetness and she shares her gift in song for all to enjoy
My family is always supportive of my efforts in everything. Thank you.
You are the most precious people in life.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I appreciate all the help that I have received in putting this book together as well as all of the other 308 books from the past.
My printed acknowledgments had been so large that book readers “complained” about going through too many pages to get to page one of the text.
And, so to permit me more flexibility, I put my acknowledgment list online, and it continues to grow. Believe it or not, it costs about a dollar less to print each book.
Thank you and God bless you all for your help.
Please check out www.letsgopublish.com to read the latest version of my heartfelt acknowledgments updated for this book. Click the bottom of the Main menu!
Thank you all!
PREFACE
By special request of my good friend Paul Harkins, author of the best-selling book, How to Become a Highly Paid Corporate Programmer, about six years ago, converted the original small size of this book to 8.5 X 11 so that I could make the book available to more people at a lower cost. By the way, Mr. Harkins is featured in this book as the author of the patented Real Time program Audit Software which is used in Forensic Accounting and Analytics. We could all use good friends such as Paul Harkins.
Since the 1950’s, IBM has been synonymous with innovation, cutting-edge technology, and major league research and development. IBM pushed the boundaries of what computers were capable of doing with technology. As of the last several years, some of the parts of that storied legacy may be ending as IBM is sorting out its future as a company in the IT industry. IBM thinks its future, as clear as they can see it; is quite cloudy!
It would take a crowd of people to come up with the right number of fingers to match the number of marketing opportuni