For those who would take the time a good read is "=CFBM & The Holocaust"
by Edwin Black. Thomas J Watson did not lose a cent while he carried on
business as usual in Nazi Germany. A well documented book.
Watson was awarded the Merit Cross of the
German Eagle by the Fuhrer.

Among other things IBM puch card equipment was used to schedule rail
cars for the transporting of Jews & others to the various concentration
camps. All of those people were also ID,d by IBM equipment & stored
in a huge data base. That is how Corporate America runs, then & now.

JLS

Seeing as you're typing on an IBM invention ....

And that makes a difference to how I whack my bass?
cb

The powers that be always play both sides of the game.......




"Chris Berry" wrote in message
...

Seeing as you're typing on an IBM invention ....

And that makes a difference to how I whack my bass?
cb

In article ,
says...


Seeing as you're typing on an IBM invention ....


Keyboards, teletypes, computers, and personal computers weren't invented by
IBM. The IBM PC was put together using generic off-the-self parts in a hurry
to compete with Apple, HP, and Commodore. Just nit picking....

"Don" wrote in message
news:7h1gc.8728$aM4.21334@attbi_s53...
In article ,
says...


Seeing as you're typing on an IBM invention ....


Keyboards, teletypes, computers, and personal computers weren't invented
by
IBM. The IBM PC was put together using generic off-the-self parts in a
hurry
to compete with Apple, HP, and Commodore. Just nit picking....

Yeah but the concept of an open architecture PC system where 3rd party parts
(and the insistance on being able to switch voltage) was the key to it's
long term popularity - and for IBM not to profit from the success but to
create that success in doing so...

What I found fascinating is that the qwerty keyboard was invented to slow
typing down - and then different countried and languages adapted it eg
German qwerzu and French azerty so that it suited their language needs
better. Optimizing a deliberatly unoptimized system?

Then again, the OP should have known about godwin's law before posting that
stuff.....

What next...
cb

Chris Berry wrote:

Seeing as you're typing on an IBM invention ....

Better read your history books again. IBM did not invent the keyboard
or the computer. TJ Watson of IBM was very hesitant to get into the
computer business at all. His son Arthur K & others had to push him in.

The computer as we know it is the work of many going back to folks
like Babbage. You could include in that the Jacquard loom. And on & on.

I worked for IBM in the early 50's when 1500 6J6's did the computing
in an IBM 604. Programming was all hardwired. I have even owned
IBM stock over time since I'm not averse to making money.

If you are really interested in a history of IBM you should read the
book
"Father Son & Co." by Thomas J Watson & Peter Petre. You could
probably find it used at a good price at www.alibris.com

Or you could carry on uneducated.

Cheers from John Stewart






And that makes a difference to how I whack my bass?
cb

"John Stewart" wrote in message
...


Chris Berry wrote:

Seeing as you're typing on an IBM invention ....

Better read your history books again. IBM did not invent the keyboard
or the computer. TJ Watson of IBM was very hesitant to get into the
computer business at all. His son Arthur K & others had to push him in.

Well it's an IBM PC compatible the OP is typing on.
AFAIK, IBM did "invent" that but luckily didn't patent the open design,
thankfully so it remained open.
IBM did try to close the door later on but that was a pretty darn good
consept that made a huge change...
cb

In article ,
says...


"John Stewart" wrote in message
...


Chris Berry wrote:

Seeing as you're typing on an IBM invention ....

Better read your history books again. IBM did not invent the keyboard
or the computer. TJ Watson of IBM was very hesitant to get into the
computer business at all. His son Arthur K & others had to push him in.

Well it's an IBM PC compatible the OP is typing on.
AFAIK, IBM did "invent" that but luckily didn't patent the open design,
thankfully so it remained open.
IBM did try to close the door later on but that was a pretty darn good
consept that made a huge change...
cb


IBM was afraid of anti-trust problems, so they used Microsoft for the
operating system, and allowed MS to sell the OS to others. The BIOS, or basic
input/output system was copyrighted. This was reversed engineered, and then
the clones appeared.

"Don" wrote in message
news:U7ngc.161194$K91.414361@attbi_s02...


IBM was afraid of anti-trust problems, so they used Microsoft for the
operating system, and allowed MS to sell the OS to others. The BIOS, or
basic
input/output system was copyrighted. This was reversed engineered, and
then
the clones appeared.

That's my understanding of it too.
It's very rare that that kind of accident changes the world in such a huge
way eh?
It's an invention of sorts - not quite a discovery and certainly done by
accident. Linux has tried to repeat it (or is still trying) but hasn't got
there yet.
Seems that sort of thing doesn't work when you do it consciously.
So who's got the formula for doing that sort of thing unconsciously?
THAT would be worth patenting...
cb

On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 10:30:20 +0200, "Chris Berry"
wrote:


"Don" wrote in message
news:7h1gc.8728$aM4.21334@attbi_s53...
In article ,
says...


Seeing as you're typing on an IBM invention ....


Keyboards, teletypes, computers, and personal computers weren't invented
by
IBM. The IBM PC was put together using generic off-the-self parts in a
hurry
to compete with Apple, HP, and Commodore. Just nit picking....

Yeah but the concept of an open architecture PC system where 3rd party parts
(and the insistance on being able to switch voltage) was the key to it's
long term popularity - and for IBM not to profit from the success but to
create that success in doing so...

What I found fascinating is that the qwerty keyboard was invented to slow
typing down - and then different countried and languages adapted it eg
German qwerzu and French azerty so that it suited their language needs
better. Optimizing a deliberatly unoptimized system?

Not actually how it happened. The issue wasn't typing speed but the mechanics of
the manual typewriter and the arrangement of the arms that swing the typeface
into the paper. Maybe you aren't old enough to remember their tendency to jam,
even with the qwerty layout, but minimizing jamming was the main design problem.
The plan wasn't to slow the typist, but to move letters that are often used
together away from one another on the key bed, which meant moving the button
that controlled it..

As for whether it's inferior, Dvorak and other systems were tested and didn't
outperform qwerty. It would be a matter of minutes to redesign a computer
keyboard for any layout you like and it keeps not happening, because nobody
finds any advantage in doing so. IBM poured a ton of research into it back in
the early electric typewriter days, they not only built the equipment that made
a new key system possible, but employed tens of thousands of clerks. They had an
incentive.

Then again, the OP should have known about godwin's law before posting that
stuff.....

There is that.

Ron

What next...
cb