Before the computer : IBM, NCR, Burroughs, and Remington Rand and the industry they created, 1865-1956 / James W. Cortada.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cortada, James W., author.

Series:

Princeton legacy library.

Princeton studies in business and technology.

Princeton Studies in Business and Technology

Princeton Legacy Library

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Office equipment and supplies industry--United States--History.

Office equipment and supplies industry.

Electronic office machine industry--United States--History.

Electronic office machine industry.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (401 pages) : illustrations, tables.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, 1993.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Before the Computer fully explores the data processing industry in the United States from its nineteenth-century inception down to the period when the computer became its primary tool. As James Cortada describes what was once called the "office appliance industry," he challenges our view of the digital computer as a revolutionary technology. Cortada interprets reliance on computers as a development within an important segment of the American economy that was earlier represented largely by such instruments as typewriters, tabulating machines, adding machines, and calculators. He also describes how many of the practices of the office appliance industry evolved into those of the computer world. Drawing on previously unavailable industry archives, the author adds to our understanding of IBM's early history and offers short corporate histories of firms that include NCR, Burroughs, and Remington Rand. Focusing on the United States but also including comparative material on Europe and Asia, Before the Computer will be a unique source of knowledge about the companies that built office equipment and their enormous impact on economic life.Originally published in 1993.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

List of Illustrations

List of Figures

List of Tables

Preface

Acknowledgments

PART ONE: ORIGINS OF A NEW INDUSTRY, 1865-1920

1. From Opportunities to Typewriters

2. Adding and Calculating Machines

3. Hollerith and the Development of Punched Card Tabulation

4. Cash Registers and the National Cash Register Company

5. Rudiments of an Industry Identified

PART TWO: AN AGE OF OFFICE MACHINES, 1920-1941

6. Economic Conditions and the Role of Standardization

7. Products, Practices, and Prices

8. Commercial and Scientific Applications of Punched Card Machines

9. International Trade in Punched Card Machines

10. The Great Depression in the United States I

11. IBM and Powers/Remington Rand

12. Other Accounting Machines and Their Uses

13. Vendors, Practices, and Results

PART THREE: WORLD WAR II AND THE POSTWAR OFFICE APPLIANCE INDUSTRY, 1941-1956

14. Economics, Government Controls, and Applications

15. The Role of Major Vendors, 1939-1946

16. Industry Structure, Vendors, and Practices, 1945-1956

17. Business Volumes

18. Conclusion: The Roles of Marketing, Distribution, and Technology

Notes

Index

Notes:

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [289]-329) and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Jul 2019)

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780691630083

0691630089

9780691600109

0691600104

9780691050454

0691050457

9781400872763

1400872766

OCLC:

933516487