World-changing progress

1932: Cloud computing before the cloud … and computers

The IBM Service Bureau is created to help companies who can not afford to buy IBM machines. In a precursor to the modern cloud computing model, tabulating and calculating power can now be rented and partitioned.

1936: Social Security, made possible by IBM

IBM works with the government on the US Social Security Act of 1935, tabulating employment records for 26 million Americans — the largest accounting project of its time.

1937: Fill in the bubble

The IBM Type 805 International Test Scoring Machine gives rise to the familiar fill-in-the-bubble test sheets. It uses the conductivity of pencil marks to sense correct and incorrect answers, saving millions of academic and professional test-scoring hours.

1952: The inception of digital storage

IBM makes it possible for magnetic tape to become a viable data storage medium, introducing the world to the idea of digital storage and marking the transition from punched-card calculators to electronic computers.

1953: The first heart and lung machine

Using a heart-lung machine built by IBM, Dr. John H. Gibbon Jr. of Philadelphia’s Jefferson Medical College performs the world’s first successful open-heart surgery on a human. Millions of lives will be saved each year by this technology and its successors.

1956: AI before AI

The first self-learning program is written by Arthur L. Samuel, who programs an IBM 704 to play checkers and learn from its own experience. It is considered the first demonstration of the concept of artificial intelligence.

1957: 60+ years of FORTRAN

Still in use today, FORTRAN opens the door to modern computing. Possibly the most influential software product in history, FORTRAN liberates computers from the exclusive realm of programmers and opens them to nearly everybody else.

1961: The birth of speech recognition

William C. Dersch demonstrates Shoebox at the 1962 World’s Fair in Seattle. The machine recognizes 16 spoken words and converts them to electronic impulses to perform arithmetic computations, creating the speech-to-text path for Siri, Alexa and Watson AI.

1962: SABRE: the genesis of eCommerce

IBM and American Airlines launch the first computer-driven airline reservation system. This is the precursor for the entire universe of electronic commerce in use today, from eBay to Amazon.

1969: The first men on the moon

In one of the great engineering feats in human history, IBM builds the computers and writes many of the complex software programs for the Apollo missions, landing Lt. Neil Armstrong and Col. Buzz Aldrin on the moon and guiding them back safely to Earth.

1970: Charge it — the magnetic swipe strip

IBM’s inception of the magnetic swipe strip on credit cards changes the way commercial transactions are enacted. An entirely new industry of processing machines and programs is born, revolutionizing travel and security access.

1971: The world’s first floppy disc

With the invention of the IBM floppy disc, storage becomes powerful, affordable and — most important — portable. More than 5 billion floppies will be sold through the 1990s, making this one of the industry’s most influential product introductions ever.

1973: The UPC bar code

Supermarkets start scanning UPC bar codes invented by IBMer Norman Woodland. The technology transforms the retail industry, with UPC codes now tracking everything from clothing to dairy cows.

1980: IBM patents LASIK surgery

Using lasers so precise they can write on a human hair, IBM is granted the first patent for LASIK surgery technology. More than 30 million people worldwide will enjoy improved vision and quality of life.

1981: Introducing the IBM PC

The PC revolution begins with the debut of the IBM Personal Computer, the smallest and most affordable computer to date. Computing goes mainstream, beyond hobbyists and into the realm of common household commodity.

1986: Scanning tunnel microscope wins the Nobel Prize

IBM scientists win the Nobel Prize for the scanning tunnel microscope, which will eventually be used famously in the manipulation of atoms — atoms! — to spell I-B-M. The impact on microelectronics and nanotechnology is global.

1997: AI defeats a reigning chess champion

IBM Deep Blue supercomputer defeats the best chess player in the world. Thinking computers take a giant leap forward toward the kind of artificial intelligence that we know and use today.

2011: First AI to understand fluid language

IBM Watson defeats the champions of the TV quiz show Jeopardy!. In this unprecedented demonstration of natural speech recognition and cognitive computing, Watson understands and responds accurately to colloquialisms, puns and sarcasm.

2018: The Summit of supercomputing

In 1961, the IBM 7030 was the world’s first transistorized supercomputer. In 2018, the Summit supercomputer boasts the most powerful processor on the planet. Summit reaches speeds of 200 petaflops in a new computing architecture, purpose-built for AI, on technologies available to all businesses.

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