November 2, 2025 • 25 mins
A census solved with cardboard, a company remade by a $5 billion gamble, and a tiny firmware layer that cracked open the PC market—this is the human story behind how computing became a platform, not a product. We go from Hermann Hollerith’s 1890 insight to IBM’s sales-first system that taught the world to think in fields and records, and then to the cultural and ethical crosscurrents that come with scale. Those punched holes didn’t just count people; they trained generations to quantify work, plan logistics, and make decisions with data.
The narrative turns at a crossroads in the early 1960s. Thomas J. Watson Jr. sees a maze of incompatible machines and bets the company on a single, compatible architecture: System/360. It demanded new chips, code, factories, and nerve. Launch day lands with shock and relief—orders flood in for a family of computers that finally speak the same language. That choice redefined the industry’s economics: software could live longer than hardware, upgrades didn’t mean rewrites, and customers stopped fearing growth. Architecture became destiny, and IBM set the standard that everyone from Apple to ARM would later emulate in their own ecosystems.
Then the stage shifts again to 1981, where a humble BIOS turns one machine into a platform. IBM documented how its firmware behaved; Compaq legally reimplemented it; the clone market ignited. Prices dropped, innovation surged, and the Wintel era took shape. IBM lost tight control but the world gained a common PC standard that carried software across brands and borders. From punch card schemas to UEFI, from batch jobs to cloud migrations, the same lesson repeats: design for compatibility, bet on continuity, and accept that openness can multiply impact.
If the story made you think differently about the architecture beneath your apps and devices, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review to help others find Technology Tap. What bold standard—or act of openness—should today’s tech leaders champion next?
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:24):
And welcome to Technology Tap.
I'm Professor J-Rock.
In this episode, IBM and the Ageof the Punch Card.
Let's tap in.
(01:04):
I'm your host, Professor J.
Rod.
Today we're traveling back morethan a century to the time when
information didn't live onsilicon chips or magnetic discs,
but on paper cards with holespunched through them.
This, my friend, is the story ofIBM and the punch card system.
I'll tell of smartness,industry, and the birth of data
(01:26):
processing.
Let's start it in the 19thcentury with the US census of
1880.
Counting 50 million Americans byhand took nearly eight years.
By the time the results werepublished, the data was already
outdated.
The government needed a fasterway, and a German American
inventor named Hermann Hollerithhad an idea.
(01:48):
Hollerith noticed that trainconductors punched tickets in
different positions to recordpassengers' characteristics.
Male, female, adult, child.
What if, he thought, each holeon a card can represent a data
point?
By creating electrical contactsthrough these holes, a machine
can count and sortautomatically.
(02:08):
By 1889, Hollerith tablingmachine debuted, a hand-cranking
marvel with spring-loaded pins,mercury-filled cups, and
mechanical counters.
Each car can hold up to 80fields of information of human
life encoded in cardboard.
The 1890 census used Hollerith'sinvention, a cut processing time
(02:31):
from eight years to just one anda half.
The United States has enteredthe era of mechanized
information.
The rise of IBM.
Hollereth's success attractedinvestors.
In 1896, he founded theTabulation Machine Company.
His system soon poweredinsurance firms, railroads, and
(02:51):
utilities.
But competition grew.
By 1911, financer Charles Flintmerged Hollereth's company with
three others (02:59):
the International Time Recording Company,
Computing Scales Company, andBunding Manufacturing.
Together, they became theComputing Tabulating Recording
Company, or CTR.
CTR built clocks, meat scales,and tabulators, but when Thomas
J.
Watson Sr.
became general manager in 1914,he saw a bigger vision.
(03:22):
Watson came from NCR, theNational Cash Register Company,
and brought a salesman'sdiscipline.
He believed in slogans,discipline, and pride.
His motto, think.
And the interesting part aboutNCR, which is an early POS
system, right?
National Cash Registers, a lotof their salesmen that came out
(03:42):
in the 1890s and the 1900s and1910s.
If you look in the 30s, 40s, and50s of Fortune 500 executives, a
lot of them came from NCR.
NCR was like a big trainingground for this next wave of
generation of executives.
And they all came from NCR.
(04:03):
One day, maybe I'll do a deepdive on NCR, but their salesmen
were fantastic back in the day.
Watson unified the firm'sculture, expanded international
sales, and focused on thetabulating business.
By 1924, he renamed CTR toInternational Business Machines,
(04:25):
IBM.
IBM just sold not just machines,but a system.
The punch cards, the soldiers,the tabulators, the training,
and the service contracts.
Holleret's 45-column cards grewto IBM's famous 80-column
format, each card containing 80characters, enough to store one
(04:45):
line of computer code decadeslater.
Inside the machine.
The punch card ecosystemrevolved around three main
devices (04:53):
the key puncher, the sorter, and the tabulator.
The key punch let operators typedata onto cards.
Each keystroke punched arectangular hole in one of the
80 columns.
The sorter could rapidly arrangethousands of cards according to
hole patterns, the earliest formof machine sorting.
And the tabulator read cardselectronically and printed
totals or reports.
(05:15):
By the 1930s, largeorganizations like the Social
Security, Western Unions, andRailroads ran on punch cards.
Every paycheck, utility bill,and bank deposit flowed through
IBM's machine.
And IBM's dominance wasn't onlytechnological, it was
organizational.
Watson seniors emphasizedloyalty and stability.
(05:36):
The company offered benefits,uniform, and lifetime
employment.
The IBM family was born.
But as the world changed, IBMfaced a moral crossroad.
The Punch Card and World War II.
By the late 1930s, IBM's reachedspan the globe.
Subsidiarities exist in dozensof countries, including Germany.
(05:58):
IBM Germany, known as Deutmach,provided tabulating equipment to
the Nazi government.
Those same machines were usedfor census operations and
logistics that tragicallyfacilitated persecution during
the Holocaust.
Historians like Edwin Blackwrote, IBM and the Holocaust
later examined how corporatetechnology interwined with state
(06:20):
bureaucracy.
At the same time, IBM's U.S.
operations contributed to theAllied efforts, building punch
card systems for logistics,crypto analysis, and early bomb
territory calculations.
It is a hunting paradox.
The same technology empoweringboth oppression and liberation.
(06:41):
After the war, IBM reflected onits global role.
Watson Sr.
son, Thomas Watson Jr., wouldsoon transform IBM into a
computing company.
From punch cards to computers.
The punch card method continuedwell into the 1950s.
The first computer, like the IBM701 and the Univac, still used
(07:04):
punch cards for input andoutput.
Programmers literally coded inholes.
Each card contained one line ofcode.
A program could requirethousands.
Drop your deck and your logiccollapsed into chaos, which is
why programmers carried rubberbands and anxiety in equal
measures.
By the 1960s, IBM System 360computers began to shift data
(07:29):
onto magnetic tape and disk.
Yet even then, the 80-columnformat lived on.
The Fortran language preservedthe first five columns for
statement numbers, a legacy ofpunch card layout.
The punch card mindset,structured data, fixed fields,
and batching processes becamethe DNA of computing.
(07:51):
Even today's database echoesthose restraints.
The legacy of IBM and the PunchCard.
Let's step back and reflect.
Punch cards weren't just atechnology, they were a culture.
They trained generations tothink in data terms.
IBM machines taught the world toquantify, sort, and predict.
(08:11):
They shaped the rise ofmanagement science, operational
research, and informationsystems.
University taught machineaccounting decades before
computer science became adiscipline.
In the developing world, IBMtabulators helped government
organize national statistics.
In business, they paved the wayfor payroll automation,
inventory control, and decisionsand decision support.
(08:35):
Culturally, the punch cardbecame a symbol of the
bureaucracy of order andsometimes of alienation.
Writers satize it.
In 1964, a student protestscientist read, Do not fold,
spindle, or mutate.
I am a human being.
IBM transition from punch cardmachines to electronic computers
(08:55):
mirrored humanity's shift fromthe industrial age to the
information age.
When Watson Jr.
approved the system 360, he betthe entire company and won.
By the 1970s, IBM dominancedefined corporate computing, but
the ghost of the punch cardlingered in every data field,
every fix-width record, everyspreadsheet cell.
(09:43):
Finally, imagine the clutter ofthousands of tabulators echoing
through the office halls, therhythm of computation before
silence became speed.
Those holes represent people,census takers, soldiers,
students, taxpayers, all reducedto patterns that machine could
read.
And in doing so, IBM taught theworld how to think like a
computer before computers evenexisted.
(10:04):
So next time you swipe a card,scan a barcode, or upload a
spreadsheet, remember it allbegan with a humble piece of
cardboard and a spark of humancuriosity.
And that was IBM.
Let's focus on the$5 billion beton the system 360.
Sometimes the biggestbreakthroughs come with the
(10:26):
biggest risk.
And sometimes the entire futureof an industry hangs on a single
decision.
Today we explore one of the mostdramatic business gambles ever
made when IBM under Thomas J.
Watson Jr.
risked everything to build a newline of computer that no one was
sure would work.
This is the story of the IBM360, the bo bet that nearly
(10:46):
bankrupt the company butultimately changed the world.
A company at the crossroads.
It is the early 60s.
IBM is already a giant, global,profitable, dominant.
Its mainframe computers runsbanks, insurance companies, and
government agencies.
But there's a problem.
Every IBM computer line isdifferent.
(11:08):
Different hardware, differentsoftware, different peripherals.
If your business bought onemodel and later needed more
power, you couldn't simplyupgrade.
You had to replace everything.
Hardware, program, training,workflow.
Customers were frustrated.
Competitors were growing.
The world needed something new.
(11:30):
Inside IBM, one man understoodthis better than anyone.
Thomas J.
Watson Jr., the son of IBM'slegendary founder.
Watson Jr.
was an acquired caretaker of hisfather's empire.
He was a pilot, a war veteran, avisionary, and he believed IBM
needed to burn its own shipsbefore somebody else did.
(11:51):
The Vision.
Watson Jr.
called for a bold new plan.
One family of computers fullycompatible from the smallest
office model to the largestsupercomputer.
The concept was revolutionary.
Different machines, differentsizes, different prices, but all
speaking the same language.
You can start small and upgradeas your needs grew.
(12:13):
No rewrites, no forkliftreplacements.
This is the first true computerarchitecture, a standard that
software and hardware can liveon for decades.
They called it System 360.
A complete circle.
But there was a catch.
To build it, IBM had to redesigneverything: new electronics, new
(12:36):
operating systems, newperipherals, new factories.
It will require money on a scalenever seen in corporate history.
The$5 billion gamble.
In the 1960s, the project costover$5 billion.
More than NASA spent developingthe Apollo moon rockets at the
(12:58):
time.
People inside IBM wereterrified.
Executives begged Watson Jr.
to scale it down.
Others told him to cancel italtogether, but he refused.
In a meeting, he famously said,This is the most important
product we will ever build.
(13:19):
If we don't do it, someone elsewill.
He knew that IBM had to disruptitself or risk being disrupted.
So he pushed forward againstfear, against doubt, against the
advice of friends andcolleagues.
Factories were retooled,software teams worked night and
day, thousands of engineerscoordinated across cities.
(13:41):
Delays mounted, budgetsexploded, the media predicted
disaster.
At one point, Watson Jr.
was so stressed he had a heartattack, but he kept going.
Launch day.
On April 7, 1964, IBM unveiledthe System 360.
Six models, from small tomassive, all compatible, all
(14:03):
upgradable.
The business world was stunned.
Within a month, IBM had morethan 1,000 orders, many from
customers who haven't even seena working prototype.
They weren't just buyingcomputers, they were buying the
future.
Within a few years, System360became the industry standard.
Its architects lasted fordecades, and its descendants
(14:25):
still exist today in modernmainframes.
It cemented IBM as the king ofcomputing and set the blueprint
for computer families used byeveryone today.
From Apple to Intel to ARM.
The legacy.
The Gamble saved IBM and changedcomputing forever.
Before System 360, computerswere isolated, incompatible
(14:49):
islands.
After 360, computers became aunified ecosystem where
software, data, and peripheralscould move forward with you.
This is the foundation of moderncomputing, platforms that
survived across generations.
Watson Jr.'s decision stillechoes today.
When you upgrade your phone andkeep your apps, or when your
(15:09):
operating systems run on adifferent hardware, you're
seeing his vision.
He proved that the greatest riskisn't failure, it's refusing to
evolve.
And you know what?
I give him a lot of credit forrisking basically his whole
company and making the system360.
(15:31):
That's a huge gamble.
And he knew that he needed toevolve.
If not, and he knew if someonedidn't do it, if he didn't do
it, somebody else was gonna doit and put him out of business.
Right?
And he he had the guts, and hehad, you know, fortunately, he
had the money and he had the youknow the resources.
A lot of smart people work atIBM.
(15:51):
So he was able to do it.
So man, but what a risk he took,huh?
Uh, the story of the System 360is more than just tech.
It's about courage, it's aboutleadership, it's about betting
everything on a feature only youcan see.
Watson Jr.
once said, if we lose ourcourage, we lose everything.
(16:13):
IBM didn't lose.
And the world gained a competinglegacy that still shapes every
bite we use.
Here's another IBM story.
Uh, this is the story of the IBMBIOS and how it helped give
birth to the modern PCrevolution.
Before the boot, it is the late70s.
(16:35):
Computers are still big,strange, and mysterious.
Most live in corporate offices,research labs, or university.
A personal computer?
Something on your desk at home,that's a fantasy.
There are only hobbyistmachines, Apple II, Commodore
Pet, the Altier, but bigcorporations see them as toys,
except one, IBM.
(16:55):
Big Blue is paying attention.
The executives notice smallbusiness and home users buying
computers by the thousands.
And they begin to wonder, whatif IBM builds something small?
What if they enter the personalcomputer market?
But there's a problem.
IBM is slow.
Decisions take months, sometimesyears.
They can't compete with thegarage companies unless they
(17:16):
move fast.
So in 1980, IBM forms a secretteam in Boca Rotone, Florida.
Their mission build an IBMpersonal computer in just one
year.
They're called the little groupProject Chest.
The mission vision will becomethe most influential computer of
all time, the IBM PC.
(17:36):
And at the center of thatmachine, quietly powering
everything, is the BIOS.
What is BIOS?
The BIOS, shortcut for basicinput output system, is the
first code your computer runswhen you turn it on.
Today we take booting forgranted.
Power button on, the computerstarts.
But in 1981, that was magic.
(17:57):
The BIOS wakes the machine.
It tests memory, it recognizeshardware, it tells the CPU where
to find the operating system.
Without BIOS, the PC is justpieces of metal and silicon.
Think of it as a conductor of anorchestra, making sure every
component enters at the righttime.
IBM didn't invent BIOS, but IBMdid something no one expected.
(18:20):
They published it.
They put BIOS code inside a ROMchip and document how it worked.
That decision changedeverything.
Open by accident.
The IBM PC launches in August1981.
It's modular, fast, and mostimportantly, it uses
off-the-shelf parts.
CPU and Intel operating system,Microsoft, memory, chips,
(18:45):
drives, all common.
This makes it cheaper and easierto build.
But the heart of it all is theIBM BIOS, a protected
copyrighted code that tells allthese parts how to work
together.
Most companies will lock thisdown.
IBM didn't.
They didn't open source theBIOS, but they didn't keep it a
secret either.
(19:06):
Anyone could read thedocumentation, anyone can buy
the RAM chip.
Anyone could try to buildsomething compatible.
This is the moment everythingchanges.
Because suddenly the PC becomesa platform, not just a product.
And the market begins to realizeif you can build a BIOS that
behaves just like IBMs, youcould build a computer that runs
(19:29):
IBM software without paying IBM.
The race is on.
The clone wars begins.
Dozens of companies try to copyIBM's BIOS.
Most of them failed becausecopying the code directly is
illegal.
Then comes Compaq.
(19:50):
Instead of copying IBM BIOScode, Compaq engineers studied
only the public behavior of theBIOS.
What it does, not how it'swritten.
Then in a clean roomenvironment, other engineers
legally insulated rewrote theBIOS from scratch.
This created BIOS.
(20:10):
This recreated BIOS is IBMcompatible, but not IBM copied.
It's legal and it works.
Have you ever seen that programthat TV show, Halt but Catch
Fire?
It mimics what Compaq did.
That first season, kind of like,I mean, it's based on the story,
not the characters themselves,but the story of that year is
(20:34):
creating BIOS, IBM compatibleversion of BIOS.
So they they took it directlyfrom Compact.
In 1982, Compact releases theCompact Portable, the first
successful IBM compatible PC.
Suddenly, IBM's control overpersonal computing is gone.
Competitors swarm the market.
(20:55):
Dell, Gateway, Packard Bell,dozens more.
One by one, they license orclone BIOS compatible systems.
Software written for IBM's PCruns on everyone's hardware.
The PC ecosystem explodes.
Millions of machines made bydozens of companies all speak
the same language because of theBIOS.
(21:17):
And that's where they went wrongwith Microsoft, right?
Because they Microsoft kept thesoftware.
So when these they they didn'tbuy it from IBM.
Imagine if if IBM had bought theMicrosoft software, every IBM
(21:38):
compatible PC that uses thatsoftware would have to give
money to IBM.
But they thought the money wasin the hardware.
So millions of machines made bydozens of computers all speak
the same language because of theBIOS.
The Fallout and the Miracle.
(22:00):
Instead, their own opennessempowered their competitors.
Within a decade, IBM no longercontrolled the PC platform.
Microsoft and Intel emerged asthe powerhouses.
Microsoft controlling theoperating system and Intel
controlling the CPU designs.
Even though IBM lost dominance,the world won.
(22:20):
Because without IBM BIOS,without a standardization, the
personal computer revolutionwould have been slower,
fragmented, fractured.
Instead, we got a unifiedplatform that encouraged
experimentation, innovation, andthe explosion of software.
PCs flooded homes, schools, andbusinesses.
The BIOS helped create a worldwhere millions of people, not
(22:43):
just corporations, can usecomputers.
And that world led to theinternet, mobile computing, and
the information age.
For decades, BIOS Code livedinside every PC, quietly
performing rich its ritual poweron, test hardware, boot OS.
Today, its successor, UEFI,still carries the BIOS legacy.
(23:08):
A tiny piece of firmware theytaught the world how to talk to
a computer.
Legacy.
The IBS BIOS gave us threelasting gifts.
One, standardization.
Software can run across machinesfrom multiple vendors.
Two, competition.
Clones brought prices down andinnovation up.
(23:29):
Accessibility.
Computers left the lab andentered the living room.
It's rare in history thatsomething so small has such a
sweeping effect.
The BIOS is not glamorous.
It's not beautiful code.
It's never asked for credit.
But every time a computerboosts, you hear its echo.
A whisper from 1981.
A tiny program with an oversizedlegacy.
(23:53):
The BIOS is easy to overlook.
Tiny firmware hidden from view,but its impact is everywhere.
It helped launch powerfulcomputing companies, collapse
others, and standardize moderncomputing.
All because of one day.
IBM shares a little program thathelped the world.
(24:16):
Thank you for joining me on thismultiple stories of IBM on
Technology Tap.
Until next time, keep learning,keep innovating, and as always,
keep tapping into technology.
(24:52):
This has been a presentation ofLittle Cha Cha Productions, Art
by Sabra, music by Joe Kim.
We're now part of the Pod MatchNetwork.
You can follow me at TikTok atProfessor J Rod at J R O D, or
you can email me at Professor JRod Jr.
at gmail dot com.
And welcome to Technology Tap.
I'm Professor J-Rock.
In this episode, IBM and the Ageof the Punch Card.
Let's tap in.
(01:04):
I'm your host, Professor J.
Rod.
Today we're traveling back morethan a century to the time when
information didn't live onsilicon chips or magnetic discs,
but on paper cards with holespunched through them.
This, my friend, is the story ofIBM and the punch card system.
I'll tell of smartness,industry, and the birth of data
(01:26):
processing.
Let's start it in the 19thcentury with the US census of
1880.
Counting 50 million Americans byhand took nearly eight years.
By the time the results werepublished, the data was already
outdated.
The government needed a fasterway, and a German American
inventor named Hermann Hollerithhad an idea.
(01:48):
Hollerith noticed that trainconductors punched tickets in
different positions to recordpassengers' characteristics.
Male, female, adult, child.
What if, he thought, each holeon a card can represent a data
point?
By creating electrical contactsthrough these holes, a machine
can count and sortautomatically.
(02:08):
By 1889, Hollerith tablingmachine debuted, a hand-cranking
marvel with spring-loaded pins,mercury-filled cups, and
mechanical counters.
Each car can hold up to 80fields of information of human
life encoded in cardboard.
The 1890 census used Hollerith'sinvention, a cut processing time
(02:31):
from eight years to just one anda half.
The United States has enteredthe era of mechanized
information.
The rise of IBM.
Hollereth's success attractedinvestors.
In 1896, he founded theTabulation Machine Company.
His system soon poweredinsurance firms, railroads, and
(02:51):
utilities.
But competition grew.
By 1911, financer Charles Flintmerged Hollereth's company with
three others (02:59):
the International Time Recording Company,
Computing Scales Company, andBunding Manufacturing.
Together, they became theComputing Tabulating Recording
Company, or CTR.
CTR built clocks, meat scales,and tabulators, but when Thomas
J.
Watson Sr.
became general manager in 1914,he saw a bigger vision.
(03:22):
Watson came from NCR, theNational Cash Register Company,
and brought a salesman'sdiscipline.
He believed in slogans,discipline, and pride.
His motto, think.
And the interesting part aboutNCR, which is an early POS
system, right?
National Cash Registers, a lotof their salesmen that came out
(03:42):
in the 1890s and the 1900s and1910s.
If you look in the 30s, 40s, and50s of Fortune 500 executives, a
lot of them came from NCR.
NCR was like a big trainingground for this next wave of
generation of executives.
And they all came from NCR.
(04:03):
One day, maybe I'll do a deepdive on NCR, but their salesmen
were fantastic back in the day.
Watson unified the firm'sculture, expanded international
sales, and focused on thetabulating business.
By 1924, he renamed CTR toInternational Business Machines,
(04:25):
IBM.
IBM just sold not just machines,but a system.
The punch cards, the soldiers,the tabulators, the training,
and the service contracts.
Holleret's 45-column cards grewto IBM's famous 80-column
format, each card containing 80characters, enough to store one
(04:45):
line of computer code decadeslater.
Inside the machine.
The punch card ecosystemrevolved around three main
devices (04:53):
the key puncher, the sorter, and the tabulator.
The key punch let operators typedata onto cards.
Each keystroke punched arectangular hole in one of the
80 columns.
The sorter could rapidly arrangethousands of cards according to
hole patterns, the earliest formof machine sorting.
And the tabulator read cardselectronically and printed
totals or reports.
(05:15):
By the 1930s, largeorganizations like the Social
Security, Western Unions, andRailroads ran on punch cards.
Every paycheck, utility bill,and bank deposit flowed through
IBM's machine.
And IBM's dominance wasn't onlytechnological, it was
organizational.
Watson seniors emphasizedloyalty and stability.
(05:36):
The company offered benefits,uniform, and lifetime
employment.
The IBM family was born.
But as the world changed, IBMfaced a moral crossroad.
The Punch Card and World War II.
By the late 1930s, IBM's reachedspan the globe.
Subsidiarities exist in dozensof countries, including Germany.
(05:58):
IBM Germany, known as Deutmach,provided tabulating equipment to
the Nazi government.
Those same machines were usedfor census operations and
logistics that tragicallyfacilitated persecution during
the Holocaust.
Historians like Edwin Blackwrote, IBM and the Holocaust
later examined how corporatetechnology interwined with state
(06:20):
bureaucracy.
At the same time, IBM's U.S.
operations contributed to theAllied efforts, building punch
card systems for logistics,crypto analysis, and early bomb
territory calculations.
It is a hunting paradox.
The same technology empoweringboth oppression and liberation.
(06:41):
After the war, IBM reflected onits global role.
Watson Sr.
son, Thomas Watson Jr., wouldsoon transform IBM into a
computing company.
From punch cards to computers.
The punch card method continuedwell into the 1950s.
The first computer, like the IBM701 and the Univac, still used
(07:04):
punch cards for input andoutput.
Programmers literally coded inholes.
Each card contained one line ofcode.
A program could requirethousands.
Drop your deck and your logiccollapsed into chaos, which is
why programmers carried rubberbands and anxiety in equal
measures.
By the 1960s, IBM System 360computers began to shift data
(07:29):
onto magnetic tape and disk.
Yet even then, the 80-columnformat lived on.
The Fortran language preservedthe first five columns for
statement numbers, a legacy ofpunch card layout.
The punch card mindset,structured data, fixed fields,
and batching processes becamethe DNA of computing.
(07:51):
Even today's database echoesthose restraints.
The legacy of IBM and the PunchCard.
Let's step back and reflect.
Punch cards weren't just atechnology, they were a culture.
They trained generations tothink in data terms.
IBM machines taught the world toquantify, sort, and predict.
(08:11):
They shaped the rise ofmanagement science, operational
research, and informationsystems.
University taught machineaccounting decades before
computer science became adiscipline.
In the developing world, IBMtabulators helped government
organize national statistics.
In business, they paved the wayfor payroll automation,
inventory control, and decisionsand decision support.
(08:35):
Culturally, the punch cardbecame a symbol of the
bureaucracy of order andsometimes of alienation.
Writers satize it.
In 1964, a student protestscientist read, Do not fold,
spindle, or mutate.
I am a human being.
IBM transition from punch cardmachines to electronic computers
(08:55):
mirrored humanity's shift fromthe industrial age to the
information age.
When Watson Jr.
approved the system 360, he betthe entire company and won.
By the 1970s, IBM dominancedefined corporate computing, but
the ghost of the punch cardlingered in every data field,
every fix-width record, everyspreadsheet cell.
(09:43):
Finally, imagine the clutter ofthousands of tabulators echoing
through the office halls, therhythm of computation before
silence became speed.
Those holes represent people,census takers, soldiers,
students, taxpayers, all reducedto patterns that machine could
read.
And in doing so, IBM taught theworld how to think like a
computer before computers evenexisted.
(10:04):
So next time you swipe a card,scan a barcode, or upload a
spreadsheet, remember it allbegan with a humble piece of
cardboard and a spark of humancuriosity.
And that was IBM.
Let's focus on the$5 billion beton the system 360.
Sometimes the biggestbreakthroughs come with the
(10:26):
biggest risk.
And sometimes the entire futureof an industry hangs on a single
decision.
Today we explore one of the mostdramatic business gambles ever
made when IBM under Thomas J.
Watson Jr.
risked everything to build a newline of computer that no one was
sure would work.
This is the story of the IBM360, the bo bet that nearly
(10:46):
bankrupt the company butultimately changed the world.
A company at the crossroads.
It is the early 60s.
IBM is already a giant, global,profitable, dominant.
Its mainframe computers runsbanks, insurance companies, and
government agencies.
But there's a problem.
Every IBM computer line isdifferent.
(11:08):
Different hardware, differentsoftware, different peripherals.
If your business bought onemodel and later needed more
power, you couldn't simplyupgrade.
You had to replace everything.
Hardware, program, training,workflow.
Customers were frustrated.
Competitors were growing.
The world needed something new.
(11:30):
Inside IBM, one man understoodthis better than anyone.
Thomas J.
Watson Jr., the son of IBM'slegendary founder.
Watson Jr.
was an acquired caretaker of hisfather's empire.
He was a pilot, a war veteran, avisionary, and he believed IBM
needed to burn its own shipsbefore somebody else did.
(11:51):
The Vision.
Watson Jr.
called for a bold new plan.
One family of computers fullycompatible from the smallest
office model to the largestsupercomputer.
The concept was revolutionary.
Different machines, differentsizes, different prices, but all
speaking the same language.
You can start small and upgradeas your needs grew.
(12:13):
No rewrites, no forkliftreplacements.
This is the first true computerarchitecture, a standard that
software and hardware can liveon for decades.
They called it System 360.
A complete circle.
But there was a catch.
To build it, IBM had to redesigneverything: new electronics, new
(12:36):
operating systems, newperipherals, new factories.
It will require money on a scalenever seen in corporate history.
The$5 billion gamble.
In the 1960s, the project costover$5 billion.
More than NASA spent developingthe Apollo moon rockets at the
(12:58):
time.
People inside IBM wereterrified.
Executives begged Watson Jr.
to scale it down.
Others told him to cancel italtogether, but he refused.
In a meeting, he famously said,This is the most important
product we will ever build.
(13:19):
If we don't do it, someone elsewill.
He knew that IBM had to disruptitself or risk being disrupted.
So he pushed forward againstfear, against doubt, against the
advice of friends andcolleagues.
Factories were retooled,software teams worked night and
day, thousands of engineerscoordinated across cities.
(13:41):
Delays mounted, budgetsexploded, the media predicted
disaster.
At one point, Watson Jr.
was so stressed he had a heartattack, but he kept going.
Launch day.
On April 7, 1964, IBM unveiledthe System 360.
Six models, from small tomassive, all compatible, all
(14:03):
upgradable.
The business world was stunned.
Within a month, IBM had morethan 1,000 orders, many from
customers who haven't even seena working prototype.
They weren't just buyingcomputers, they were buying the
future.
Within a few years, System360became the industry standard.
Its architects lasted fordecades, and its descendants
(14:25):
still exist today in modernmainframes.
It cemented IBM as the king ofcomputing and set the blueprint
for computer families used byeveryone today.
From Apple to Intel to ARM.
The legacy.
The Gamble saved IBM and changedcomputing forever.
Before System 360, computerswere isolated, incompatible
(14:49):
islands.
After 360, computers became aunified ecosystem where
software, data, and peripheralscould move forward with you.
This is the foundation of moderncomputing, platforms that
survived across generations.
Watson Jr.'s decision stillechoes today.
When you upgrade your phone andkeep your apps, or when your
(15:09):
operating systems run on adifferent hardware, you're
seeing his vision.
He proved that the greatest riskisn't failure, it's refusing to
evolve.
And you know what?
I give him a lot of credit forrisking basically his whole
company and making the system360.
(15:31):
That's a huge gamble.
And he knew that he needed toevolve.
If not, and he knew if someonedidn't do it, if he didn't do
it, somebody else was gonna doit and put him out of business.
Right?
And he he had the guts, and hehad, you know, fortunately, he
had the money and he had the youknow the resources.
A lot of smart people work atIBM.
(15:51):
So he was able to do it.
So man, but what a risk he took,huh?
Uh, the story of the System 360is more than just tech.
It's about courage, it's aboutleadership, it's about betting
everything on a feature only youcan see.
Watson Jr.
once said, if we lose ourcourage, we lose everything.
(16:13):
IBM didn't lose.
And the world gained a competinglegacy that still shapes every
bite we use.
Here's another IBM story.
Uh, this is the story of the IBMBIOS and how it helped give
birth to the modern PCrevolution.
Before the boot, it is the late70s.
(16:35):
Computers are still big,strange, and mysterious.
Most live in corporate offices,research labs, or university.
A personal computer?
Something on your desk at home,that's a fantasy.
There are only hobbyistmachines, Apple II, Commodore
Pet, the Altier, but bigcorporations see them as toys,
except one, IBM.
(16:55):
Big Blue is paying attention.
The executives notice smallbusiness and home users buying
computers by the thousands.
And they begin to wonder, whatif IBM builds something small?
What if they enter the personalcomputer market?
But there's a problem.
IBM is slow.
Decisions take months, sometimesyears.
They can't compete with thegarage companies unless they
(17:16):
move fast.
So in 1980, IBM forms a secretteam in Boca Rotone, Florida.
Their mission build an IBMpersonal computer in just one
year.
They're called the little groupProject Chest.
The mission vision will becomethe most influential computer of
all time, the IBM PC.
(17:36):
And at the center of thatmachine, quietly powering
everything, is the BIOS.
What is BIOS?
The BIOS, shortcut for basicinput output system, is the
first code your computer runswhen you turn it on.
Today we take booting forgranted.
Power button on, the computerstarts.
But in 1981, that was magic.
(17:57):
The BIOS wakes the machine.
It tests memory, it recognizeshardware, it tells the CPU where
to find the operating system.
Without BIOS, the PC is justpieces of metal and silicon.
Think of it as a conductor of anorchestra, making sure every
component enters at the righttime.
IBM didn't invent BIOS, but IBMdid something no one expected.
(18:20):
They published it.
They put BIOS code inside a ROMchip and document how it worked.
That decision changedeverything.
Open by accident.
The IBM PC launches in August1981.
It's modular, fast, and mostimportantly, it uses
off-the-shelf parts.
CPU and Intel operating system,Microsoft, memory, chips,
(18:45):
drives, all common.
This makes it cheaper and easierto build.
But the heart of it all is theIBM BIOS, a protected
copyrighted code that tells allthese parts how to work
together.
Most companies will lock thisdown.
IBM didn't.
They didn't open source theBIOS, but they didn't keep it a
secret either.
(19:06):
Anyone could read thedocumentation, anyone can buy
the RAM chip.
Anyone could try to buildsomething compatible.
This is the moment everythingchanges.
Because suddenly the PC becomesa platform, not just a product.
And the market begins to realizeif you can build a BIOS that
behaves just like IBMs, youcould build a computer that runs
(19:29):
IBM software without paying IBM.
The race is on.
The clone wars begins.
Dozens of companies try to copyIBM's BIOS.
Most of them failed becausecopying the code directly is
illegal.
Then comes Compaq.
(19:50):
Instead of copying IBM BIOScode, Compaq engineers studied
only the public behavior of theBIOS.
What it does, not how it'swritten.
Then in a clean roomenvironment, other engineers
legally insulated rewrote theBIOS from scratch.
This created BIOS.
(20:10):
This recreated BIOS is IBMcompatible, but not IBM copied.
It's legal and it works.
Have you ever seen that programthat TV show, Halt but Catch
Fire?
It mimics what Compaq did.
That first season, kind of like,I mean, it's based on the story,
not the characters themselves,but the story of that year is
(20:34):
creating BIOS, IBM compatibleversion of BIOS.
So they they took it directlyfrom Compact.
In 1982, Compact releases theCompact Portable, the first
successful IBM compatible PC.
Suddenly, IBM's control overpersonal computing is gone.
Competitors swarm the market.
(20:55):
Dell, Gateway, Packard Bell,dozens more.
One by one, they license orclone BIOS compatible systems.
Software written for IBM's PCruns on everyone's hardware.
The PC ecosystem explodes.
Millions of machines made bydozens of companies all speak
the same language because of theBIOS.
(21:17):
And that's where they went wrongwith Microsoft, right?
Because they Microsoft kept thesoftware.
So when these they they didn'tbuy it from IBM.
Imagine if if IBM had bought theMicrosoft software, every IBM
(21:38):
compatible PC that uses thatsoftware would have to give
money to IBM.
But they thought the money wasin the hardware.
So millions of machines made bydozens of computers all speak
the same language because of theBIOS.
The Fallout and the Miracle.
(22:00):
Instead, their own opennessempowered their competitors.
Within a decade, IBM no longercontrolled the PC platform.
Microsoft and Intel emerged asthe powerhouses.
Microsoft controlling theoperating system and Intel
controlling the CPU designs.
Even though IBM lost dominance,the world won.
(22:20):
Because without IBM BIOS,without a standardization, the
personal computer revolutionwould have been slower,
fragmented, fractured.
Instead, we got a unifiedplatform that encouraged
experimentation, innovation, andthe explosion of software.
PCs flooded homes, schools, andbusinesses.
The BIOS helped create a worldwhere millions of people, not
(22:43):
just corporations, can usecomputers.
And that world led to theinternet, mobile computing, and
the information age.
For decades, BIOS Code livedinside every PC, quietly
performing rich its ritual poweron, test hardware, boot OS.
Today, its successor, UEFI,still carries the BIOS legacy.
(23:08):
A tiny piece of firmware theytaught the world how to talk to
a computer.
Legacy.
The IBS BIOS gave us threelasting gifts.
One, standardization.
Software can run across machinesfrom multiple vendors.
Two, competition.
Clones brought prices down andinnovation up.
(23:29):
Accessibility.
Computers left the lab andentered the living room.
It's rare in history thatsomething so small has such a
sweeping effect.
The BIOS is not glamorous.
It's not beautiful code.
It's never asked for credit.
But every time a computerboosts, you hear its echo.
A whisper from 1981.
A tiny program with an oversizedlegacy.
(23:53):
The BIOS is easy to overlook.
Tiny firmware hidden from view,but its impact is everywhere.
It helped launch powerfulcomputing companies, collapse
others, and standardize moderncomputing.
All because of one day.
IBM shares a little program thathelped the world.
(24:16):
Thank you for joining me on thismultiple stories of IBM on
Technology Tap.
Until next time, keep learning,keep innovating, and as always,
keep tapping into technology.
(24:52):
This has been a presentation ofLittle Cha Cha Productions, Art
by Sabra, music by Joe Kim.
We're now part of the Pod MatchNetwork.
You can follow me at TikTok atProfessor J Rod at J R O D, or
you can email me at Professor JRod Jr.
at gmail dot com.
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