Silicon Valley, Oh, We Mean, City
New York is the city of possibility, so it makes sense that some of the most innovative advances in technology were born in the Big Apple. As we enter 2016, we’re going to take a few steps back from the modern...

Silicon Valley, Oh, We Mean, City
New York is the city of possibility, so it makes sense that some of the most innovative advances in technology were born in the Big Apple. As we enter 2016, we’re going to take a few steps back from the modern marvels of cognitive technology and the like, and explore the past inside the Silicon City exhibit—a showcase of the City’s earliest tech days—now open at the New York Historical Society—and here on IBMblr.

9 years ago

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9 years ago

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IBM Corporation
“Ferrite Memory Core,” 1955
Copper wiring, ferrite and plastic

A keepsake from the infancy of computers, when knitted loops of magnetized wire was the early form of memory. From the MoMA design collection

9 years ago

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A friend and colleague on Mandelbrot:

“Of course he used his office computer for email, but he did very little programming… The walls of his office were covered with posters of Mandelbrot Sets and fractal art. He had piles of books and papers on the floor, on his desk, and on various tables. But his memory was great. If asked him about any aspect of fractals, he could go to the correct pile and retrieve a relevant document.”

As told by IBM Researcher Dr. James Wynne in a Reddit AMA:

9 years ago

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“If x of a program is inherently sequential, the maximum attainable speedup is 1/x” (Amdahl’s law)

INSIDE THE INVENTIVE MIND
Gene Amdahl
IBM Fellow Emeritus
“Father of Mainframes”
Author of parallel computing law

9 years ago

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Take a trip back to the early ‘80s when a new kind of computer started making our home and work lives a whole lot more awesome. Happy IBM PC Day!

9 years ago

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Just think. Without Pac-Man, there might never have been the IBM PC. No really. Happy 35th Birthday, Pac-Man, Blinky, Inky, Pinky and Clyde!

9 years ago

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💻 IBM Japan in 15 Seconds 📚
Here’s your crash course on IBM Japan. In 1925, a tableware manufacturer installed the first IBM tabulating machine. In 1973, Leo Esaki won the Nobel Prize in Physics for electron tunneling. In 1982, the Tokyo Research Lab opened. In 1992, the ThinkPad700C was released. And now, in 2015, IBM’s teaming up with Apple in Japan to create an elderly-friendly iPad. We’re out of time, but rest assured, the goods are still being churned out. Class dismissed.

9 years ago

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Can’t Spell Brand Without Rand

It’s hard to imagine a time in which a well-crafted logo was not deemed crucial to the success of a business. Paul Rand’s unmatched ability to represent a brand with just a few strokes of the paintbrush helped the logo break free from its chains of underestimation. He also possessed an eye for the future; amazingly enough, the IBM logo has only been changed ONCE since 1956. Thanks for the pocket-sized work of art, Rand, a talisman for now and years to come.

9 years ago

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Power Pellets and the IBM PC
Tales from the IBM Playground

10 years ago

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$Atoms, and fractals, and cognitive kitchens—oh my! 500 posts and we’ve only scratched the surface of innovation. Take a peek behind the lab doors→$