The Legend of IBM

The year 1953 saw the development of IBM's first commercially successful general-purpose computer. Inventor, Thomas Johnson Watson Junior wanted to contribute a "defense calculator" to aid in the United Nations' policing of Korea after the Korean War. However, one obstacle Watson Junior had to overcome was in convincing his father, Thomas Johnson Watson Senior (the CEO of IBM) that computers would not harm IBM's card processing business. The 701s were incompatible with IBM's punched card processing equipment, at that time a big moneymaker for IBM. Illustration of IBM 701 EDPM Control Board by Mary Bellis

• History of Computers