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IBM is a very capable company when it comes to technology R&D. But they've always seemed to struggle to develop those capabilities outside of high-end consulti
by mywittyname 6y ago
IBM is a very capable company when it comes to technology R&D. But they've always seemed to struggle to develop those capabilities outside of high-end consulting work.
IBM had the technical chops to create the likes of ARM, nVidia, or any number of big tech companies. They just never seemed to have the leadership capabilities to get out of their comfort zone. I understand the idea of keeping a business focused, but Alphabet and MS don't seem to struggle with managing a diverse portfolio of companies.
- mulmen 6y agoI wonder how IBM looked at 22 and 45 years old.
- rusk 6y agoAt 45 I guess they were expanding into Europe.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- GnarfGnarf 6y agoYep, selling Hollerith card equipment to Germany in the 30's and 40's.
- mulmen 6y agoThat math doesn’t work out. IBM was formed in 1911. 45 years old would be 1956. Also doing business in Europe in the 1930s doesn’t mean that’s when they expanded. That business could have been decades old by then. Some quick reading of the history of IBM and subsidiaries suggests they were doing business in Europe by the 1920s.
- relaxing 6y agoThe answer probably depends on where you define the "birth" of IBM - the founding of the companies that merged to create IBM, the date of the merger, or the date they changed the name and/or began producing business machines with the name "IBM" on them. In the context of the thread, it's reasonable to say that both at 22 and 45 IBM had strong leadership (Watson Sr.) that successfully managed a diverse group of subsidiaries. Although in neither case are there any products like a modern digital computer involved.
- boogies 6y agoLike Nazi allies, according to some Holocaust survivors: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_and_the_Holocaust https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_and_the_Holocaust https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_during_World_War_II https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_during_World_War_II.