IBM is Making the World Work Better

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Today, IBM celebrates its 100 year anniversary. Today, is also my 25th anniversary with IBM, which I [celebrated last week].

Yesterday, I received a copy of the book [Making the World Work Better -- The Ideas that Shaped a Century and a Company] that was sent to every IBMer. IBM commissioned three journalists to write their perspective on the company and its history. IBM Chairman and CEO Sam Palmisano wrote the foreword.

Kevin Maney

Kevin Maney was a reporter, editor and columnist for [USA Today], contributing editor for Conde Nast Portfolio, and contributor to [Fortune], [Wired], [the Atlantic], [NPR], and [ABC News]. He has also written several books, including [Megamedia Shakeout: The Inside Story of the Leaders and the Losers in the Exploding Communications Industry], [Trade-Off: Why Some Things Catch On, and Others Don't], and [Maverick and His Machine: Thomas Watson, Sr. and the Making of IBM].

Kevin's perspective focused on the evolution over the past 100 years of "information science", in six chapters: sensing, memory, processing, logic, connecting, and architecture. He covers the technology from IBM Punched Cards and core memory, to the latest optical chips and the DeepQA technology in IBM Watson.

Steve Hamm

Steve Hamm has been a journalist for the past 30 years, including two decades covering the computer industry for [BusinessWeek]. He has written several books, including [Bangalore Tiger] about rewriting the rules of global competition, and [Race for Perfect: Inside the Quest to Design the Ultimate Portable Computer ].

Steve's perspective was on IBM as a corporation, and how IBM and other corporations have evolved over the past century. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, "Internationals" had their headquarters in the United States, and regional sales and distribution offices elsewhere. The mid-20th century gave rise to "Multinationals" that invested more heavily in regional headquarters scattered across the globe. Today, in the 21st century, IBM and its clients are [Globally Integrated Entrprises] that move work to the lowest costs, best skills, and most attractive business climates.

Jeffrey M. O'Brien

Jeffrey M. O'Brien has been a senior editor [Fortune] and [Wired] magazines, and his work has appeared in The Best of Technology Writing, The Best American Science and Nature Writing, and The Best American Science Writing.

Jeffrey's perspective is on the impact technology has on humanity, organized into five steps towards progress: Seeing, Mapping, Understanding, Believing, and Acting. These steps have been around long before IBM, and Jeffrey is able to draw parallels to such efforts as Lewis & Clark mapping out the Louisiana Purchase, advancements in genetically modified foods, and the thousands of IBMers required to land a man on the moon.

This afternoon, everyone at the IBM Tucson site will be getting together to celebrate IBM's Centernnial!

technorati tags: books, Sam Palmisano, #ibm100, ibm, Kevin Maney, Steve Hamm, Jeffrey O'brien