| Title: |
James W. Birkenstock
|
| Local code: |
OH 4
|
| Document type: |
Oral history
|
| Accessibility: |
Free Only
|
| Repository: |
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Charles Babbage Institute
|
| Collection: |
Charles Babbage Institute Oral History Program
|
| Description: |
From his perspective as advisor to the president and subsequently as Director of Product Planning and Market Analysis at IBM, Birkenstock discusses the metamorphosis of the company from leader of the tabulating machine industry to leader of the data processing industry. He describes his involvement with magnetic tape development in 1947, the involvement of IBM in the Korean War, the development of the Defense Calculator and the 70l computer, and the emergence of magnetic core memory from the SAGE project. He then recounts the entry of IBM into the commercial computer market with the 702. The end of the interview concerns IBM's relationship with other early entrants in the international computer industry, including litigation with Sperry Rand, its cross-licensing agreements, and cooperation with Japanese electronics firms.
|
| Extent: |
51 pages
|
| URL: |
http://www.cbi.umn.edu/oh/pdf.phtml?id=62
|
| Original Language: |
English
|
| Time span: |
Not indicated ... to 1980 (Year of interview)
|
| Speaker: |
Birkenstock, James Warren, 1912-
|
| Speaker gender: |
Male
|
| Speaker date of birth: |
1912
|
| Speaker occupation: |
Engineer; Manager
|
| Age at speaking: |
68
|
| Document location: |
Stamford, CT
|
| Document date: |
12-Aug-1980
|
| Interviewer: |
Stuewer, Roger; Tomash, Erwin
|
| Locations discussed: |
North America; United States
|
| Topics discussed - ASP terms: |
Computer software; Electric engineering; Engineering; Information technology; North America; Oral history; Software engineering; United States
|
| Topics discussed - Other terms: |
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
|
| ASP release: |
2005-06
|
| Document code: |
OHI0023910-25445
|
