On 1/24/2010 10:03 AM, valdis.kletni...@vt.edu wrote:
On Sat, 23 Jan 2010 22:04:31 CST, Larry Sheldon said:
I remember a day when 18 was the largest number of computers that would
ever be needed.
First off, it was 5, not 18. :)
Second, there's not much evidence that TJ Watson actually said it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_J._Watson#Famous_misquote
I think the 18 was a UNIVAC blunder (don't remember who supposedly said
it). Given their corporate history, I can believe it,
Third, given that IBM had already been shipping accounting units with limited
plugboard programmability (the model 405) for almost a decade at that point,
it's reasonable to conclude that TJ was intentionally and specifically talking
about high-end "if you have to ask you can't afford it" systems. And if you
look at the Top500 list now, 65 years years later, it's still true - there's
always 2-5 boxes that are *way* out in front, then a cluster in spots 5-20 or
so, and then a *really* long tail on the way down to #500.
http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/vintage/vintage_4506VV4006.html
It may surprise some folks to learn that there were several computer
makers--IBM was not the first, not the best, and not the stupidest.
--
"Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to
take everything you have."
Remember: The Ark was built by amateurs, the Titanic by professionals.
Requiescas in pace o email
Ex turpi causa non oritur actio
Eppure si rinfresca
ICBM Targeting Information: http://tinyurl.com/4sqczs
http://tinyurl.com/7tp8ml
