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Princeton Legacy Library: Before the Computer : IBM, NCR, Burroughs, and Remington Rand and the Industry They Created, 1865-1956 by James W. Cortada (2000, Trade Paperback)
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About this product
Product Identifiers
PublisherPrinceton University Press
ISBN-100691050457
ISBN-139780691050454
eBay Product ID (ePID)1654957
Product Key Features
Number of Pages402 Pages
Publication NameBefore the Computer : IBM, NCR, Burroughs, and Remington Rand and the Industry They Created, 1865-1956
LanguageEnglish
Publication Year2000
SubjectEconomic History, History
FeaturesRevised
TypeTextbook
Subject AreaComputers, Business & Economics
AuthorJames W. Cortada
SeriesPrinceton Legacy Library
FormatTrade Paperback
Dimensions
Item Height1 in
Item Weight20 Oz
Item Length9 in
Item Width6 in
Additional Product Features
Intended AudienceCollege Audience
Dewey Edition20
Reviews"The computer didn't spring full-blown from the brows of men like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. The automation movement that prepared the way for today's personal computer, the author shows, began in the 19th century with the invention of the typewriter and the adding machine."-- Washington Post Book World, Easily the best attempt to date to integrate the present-day computer industry with its office machine past. It is strongly recommended as a significant contribution to the literature of the history of computing and the information handling industries. ---Martin Campbell-Kelly, Business History, This beautifully produced book ... makes an essential contribution to the history of data processing and computing. Its data alone should make the book a basic reference for scholars. ---Steven W. Usselman, American Scientist, "This beautifully produced book ... makes an essential contribution to the history of data processing and computing. Its data alone should make the book a basic reference for scholars." --Steven W. Usselman, American Scientist, "Easily the best attempt to date to integrate the present-day computer industry with its office machine past. It is strongly recommended as a significant contribution to the literature of the history of computing and the information handling industries." --Martin Campbell-Kelly, Business History, "Easily the best attempt to date to integrate the present-day computer industry with its office machine past. It is strongly recommended as a significant contribution to the literature of the history of computing and the information handling industries."-- Martin Campbell-Kelly, Business History, "The computer didn't spring full-blown from the brows of men like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. The automation movement that prepared the way for today's personal computer, the author shows, began in the 19th century with the invention of the typewriter and the adding machine." -- Washington Post Book World, "This beautifully produced book ... makes an essential contribution to the history of data processing and computing. Its data alone should make the book a basic reference for scholars."-- Steven W. Usselman, American Scientist, The computer didn't spring full-blown from the brows of men like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. The automation movement that prepared the way for today's personal computer, the author shows, began in the 19th century with the invention of the typewriter and the adding machine.
Series Volume Number1775
IllustratedYes
Dewey Decimal338.4765120973
Edition DescriptionRevised edition
Table Of ContentList of Illustrations List of Figures List of Tables Preface Acknowledgments Pt. 1 Origins of a New Industry, 1865-1920 1 1 From Opportunities to Typewriters 3 2 Adding and Calculating Machines 25 3 Hollerith and the Development of Punched Card Tabulation 44 4 Cash Registers and the National Cash Register Company 64 5 Rudiments of an Industry Identified 79 Pt. 2 An Age of Office Machines, 1920-1941 89 6 Economic Conditions and the Role of Standardization 91 7 Products, Practices, and Prices 105 8 Commercial and Scientific Applications of Punched Card Machines 128 9 International Trade in Punched Card Machines 137 10 The Great Depression in the United States 144 11 IBM and Powers/Remington Rand 149 12 Other Accounting Machines and Their Uses 158 13 Vendors, Practices, and Results 171 Pt. 3 World War II and the Postwar Office Appliance Industry, 1941-1956 187 14 Economics, Government Controls, and Applications 189 15 The Role of Major Vendors, 1939-1946 206 16 Industry Structure, Vendors, and Practices, 1945-1956 222 17 Business Volumes 247 18 Conclusion: The Roles of Marketing, Distribution, and Technology 264 Notes 289 Index 331
SynopsisBefore 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.
LC Classification NumberHD9801
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