Author: mtucker2

Bed Access Reading Bot (B.A.R.B.): The Future of the Book

Bed Access Reading Bot (B.A.R.B.) Proposal: Eye-Tracking Reading Device for the Physically Handicapped

My aunt, Barbara, suffers from Lou Gehrig’s disease—also known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Due to this disease she has lost all motor function, meaning she is quadriplegic. Basic functions that many of us take for granted—such as: showering oneself, wiping one’s eyes, scratching one’s arm, and even talking—are not available to some people with ALS. For the most part, many of the bigger problems quadriplegics face have been circumvented. My aunt’s nurse-assistant, for example, bathes her, flips through the channels for her, feeds her, etc. As far as communicating, there are two main options for my aunt: alphabet boards and Augmentative/Alternative communication devices (AAC). These advancements solve many problems, but there are still many that need to be addressed.

Research shows that patients that suffer from ALS are also at risk of suffering from depression:

Patients reported high communicative abilities, comparable to caregivers, while   their supposition without the ETCS was significantly worse. (K. Linse, 259)

Lack of a social life and inability to participate in leisurely activities are the main causes of this depression in ALS-sufferers. Because of the physical aspect of ALS, it is easy to overlook the psychological impact. It took me, for instance, several visits to see my aunt Barbara before thinking: “How does she have fun?” and “How does she cope with not being able to do the things she used to do?” My aunt has always been an intelligent person; so seeing her not being able to put her mind to use is saddening for me.

B.A.R.B. is here to give back fun and some sense of autonomy to people like my aunt. Essentially, B.A.R.B. is an E-Reader that functions similarly to AAC devices that utilize eye-tracking technology. The purpose of B.A.R.B. is to allow quadriplegics to read without needing any assistance. Having watched my aunt and her nurse-assistant, I can say there are a lot of nuances that even nurse-assistants cannot solve easily. Think about everything it takes for you to read a book. As an able-bodied person you can stop reading when you want; you can dog-ear pages; you can take notes; you can reread pages, etc. Could you imagine doing these things without being able to move? Could you imagine how difficult it would be to tell your nurse to do these tasks for you if you are unable to talk? It would be impossible.

With B.A.R.B., healthcare providers and hospitals will be able to improve the mental wellbeing of their quadriplegic patients. Rather than just having TV to watch, patients will be able to entertain themselves and feed their minds with books of their choice. Healthcare providers and hospitals that implement B.A.R.B. early on will be attractive to customers and patients who have not been able to find such thoughtful and personalized technology elsewhere. Eventually, the goal is for healthcare providers and hospitals nationwide to take advantage of what B.A.R.B. has to offer. Being as though this technology eases the burden of nurse-assistants and gives patients autonomy, it is inevitable that B.A.R.B. will be everywhere.

As I stated earlier, B.A.R.B. is the synthesis of two already established technologies: the E-reader and AAC eye-tracking devices. E-readers were a temporary craze, yet they were fundamentally ahead of their time. The reason, I believe, E-readers lost their popularity was due to misreading the market. Avid readers, for the most part, have a hard time parting with their beloved books—the smell of them, the page turning, etc. Therefore, it was easy for traditional books to reclaim their throne from E-readers. But the E-reader’s features have potential to be the ideal product for the quadriplegic user once merged with hands-off and easy-to-use eye-tracking technology. Virtually all the E-reader’s features—such as: page turning, book marking, highlighting, note making, and word searching—will be in tact, yet rather than being accessible by touch, these features will be accessible through eye-movement.

After the initial installation of B.A.R.B. the user will go through a set-up process (choose language, font size, etc.) that will get them accustomed to the eye-gaze technology. The most crucial component of B.A.R.B. is the eye-reading camera that is mounted on top of the monitor. This camera reads eye movement and translates it into an action. Once the user is prompted by something on the screen they will have the option to stare at it—which the camera reads—until an hourglass icon turns over; once the hourglass is completely overturned the option is chosen. An example of this would be if the user were prompted with a “Yes” or “No” question. If the user wants to choose “Yes”, he/she will stare at the “Yes” option for 5 seconds (length of time for hourglass to turn).

Similarly, any action the user wants to take will be decided by a 5-second stare. The user will be able to access the menu option on the side of the screen this way as well. The menu will allow the user to choose/search another book or log out. Also on the side of the screen there will be an icon called “toolbox”, which will allow the user to make the actions listed earlier (highlight, word search, etc.). Neither the menu option nor the “toolbox” icons will obstruct the reading screen until they are chosen. Aside from the text itself the only icons that will stand out are the arrow buttons on either side of the text. These arrow buttons—which also function off the 5-second stare period (number of seconds can be changed)—allow the user to go forward or backward in the book.

Watch “Eyegaze communication in action”

B.A.R.B. will be available for healthcare providers, hospitals, and the loved ones of the user. Being as though our bigger markets will be the healthcare providers and hospitals, I have designed marketing campaigns specifically for them. For the healthcare campaign there will be a nationwide tour in which B.A.R.B. will visit research labs. These research lab events showcase the newest and most beneficial advancements in healthcare. The first reveal will be held at the Applied Physics Lab in Laurel, MD. Over the year, B.A.R.B. will attend several of these events, as labs are located in every state. At these events, healthcare representatives will be given a chance to test out B.A.R.B. They may find that despite being able-bodied, they might want B.A.R.B. for themselves! Near the end of the year, B.A.R.B. will be taken to the Healthcare Design expo in Orlando, FL. This annual event is the one I am most excited for, as it is the big daddy of all healthcare expos. Researchers, educators, nurses, and medical planners are among the many influencers who will get to experience B.A.R.B.

B.A.R.B.’s campaign to get into hospitals may prove a little more difficult as hospitals—like classrooms—do not seem to change much over time. However, I am confident that hospitals associated with higher education, such as Johns Hopkins University, will be more open to cutting-edge technology since they are tasked with preparing the world’s future doctors. Introducing B.A.R.B. to university-linked hospitals will be the first step in getting into every hospital into America, and hopefully the world.

So what’s the future of B.A.R.B.? I think text was the most logical start. After all, that technology already exists (E-readers) and simply had to be merged with eye-gaze technology in order to come alive. The next logical step is to introduce visuals—as in television and movies—which can run smoothly alongside the menu and tool features.

Works Cited

“About The Show.” hcdexpo. N.p., 2017. Web.

Beukelman, David R., and Pat Mirenda. Augmentative and Alternative Communication : Supporting Children and Adults with Complex Communication Needs, Fourth Edition. Fourth Edition. Brookes Publishing, 2013. Web.

Linse, K. et al. “EP 47. Direct Assessment of Psychosocial Measures Using Eye Tracking Technology in Advanced ALS – Can Preserved Autonomy and Psychological Wellbeing Modify Disease Course?” Clinical Neurophysiology 127.9 (2016): 258–259. Web.

ReviewLamp.com. All-New Kindle E-Reader Review – 8th Generation – 2016 Model. N.p., 2016. Film.

The PACE Centre. Eyegaze Communication in Action. N.p., 2009. Film.

“Welcome to AACFUNDINGHELP.COM.” SGD Funding Solutions from Assistive Technology Law Center. N.p., Nov. 2006. Web.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 25th Journal

I was given a plastic plate shaped like an enlarged jock-strap. In order to force people to read, this plate will attach to the person’s face and fill up with water as they read a page. This will encourage them to actually read so that they can avoid drowning. Once the page is read, the water goes back down. At the start of a new page, the mask begins to fill with water again. This cycle continues until the book is completely finished. Eye-scanning devices will determine whether the page has actually been read. When the person is finished reading they will be tested on the content of the book–this is still while the mask is on. If they get less than 75% on the test the mask will fill with water, ultimately drowning them to death.

B.A.R.B. (Bed Access Reading Bot)

I want to propose something that, I think, should have been done earlier. I want to propose an eye-tracking reading device for quadriplegics. As we are English majors and avid-readers we often take reading for granted: all it takes is a flip of a page or a click of the mouse for us. Unfortunately, such simple tasks aren’t possible for quadriplegics. From experience with my aunt who has ALS, I’ve seen that her only form of movement is through her eyes. She can scan left to right and blink. That is the extent of her movement; yet technology has already been made to accommodate this. In order to communicate she once had to rely on a nurse and an alphabet chart—she’d blink for each letter and the nurse would write each word my aunt wanted to say. This was time consuming, so my aunt and cousin—her daughter—were happy to learn of an eye-tracking system that made communicating easier. Now all my aunt has to do is look at a letter on a screen in order to spell out words and sentences. This technology has improved her life greatly. However, I propose today something that will build on this technology—and ultimately improve her life even more. I propose an eye-tracker that can upload any number of books for reading. By using her eyes, my aunt would be able to select the next page, go back, access tools such as: highlighting, underlining, or annotating, and much more. The screen, which she would read from, would have a toolbox on the left. In this toolbox there will be various icons representing tasks that can be performed once chosen. This toolbox will feature a Search option—represented by magnifying glass icon—which will allow the user to look up words and other information on the Internet. Additionally, there will be an Audio option—represented by an ear icon—which will allow the user to have the text to be read aloud by a Siri-like, computer-generated voice. These tools will provide optimal usage and accessibility for those who are bed-ridden. Something similar had been proposed, but it was flawed in that it read the facial gestures of the user and interpreted these movements as intentional although most of the time they were not. B.A.R.B. will leave no room for error.

Luckily, B.A.R.B. will not be such a difficult improvement to make as we already have successful eye-tracking technology. Secondly, we already have E-readers, which, in format, look similar to what I’m proposing. If we can find a simple way to merge these two already-established technologies we will be one step closer to providing quadriplegics with the same form of entertainment and enrichment the rest of us enjoy.

Emerging Careers in Writing–reflection

The Emerging Careers event gave me a lot of ideas on what I would and would not like to do with my future. I talked to Fitz Fitzgerald, Lynda Del Genis, Lydia Woolever, Katie Lindholm, and Barbara Hauck.

First, I sat down and talked with Lydia Woolever, associate editor of Baltimore Magazine, because I overheard talk of internship opportunities with her magazine. Ms. Woolever’s background really inspired me, as she had written for Esquire magazine, which is quite an accolade. The group and I picked her brain about what her secret to success was and she replied, “internships”. From my talk with her at the beginning and after the event, I learned that she basically leap-frogged from internship to internship until she landed her jobs. I asked her how she got her first internship–which was with a newspaper–and she said that she compiled a portfolio of things she’d written and submitted it. She is so inspirational because she has accomplished so much already. I promised her I’d email her a cover letter and resume. Keep your fingers crossed that she takes me on as either a writing/editing intern for Baltimore Magazine!

Next, I talked to Fitz Fitzgerald. I was not particularly interested in his main profession, which had something to do with educational publishing, but moreso his hobby: critiquing fiction. Aside from journalism, I am very much interested in editing the fictional work of others. Mr. Fitzgerald spoke of how a poet he critiqued initially didn’t like him for his criticism, which, for me, was funny and relatable–for one, I can identify with wanting to attack someone that harms my babies (my writing), and two, I’ve had much experience in critiquing sensitive writers. I asked Mr. Fitzgerald how he got into this sort of work and he said that he joined a group of freelancing editors. He told me that if I wanted to do the same, I should google such groups–he couldn’t think of any of the names off top of his head. One thing he reminded me though was that doing this sort of freelancing didn’t pay much–which was a little disconcerting, but kind of what I expected.

After speaking with Mr. Fitzgerald, I spoke with Ms. Del Genis, a technical writer. I wanted to talk to her because I found her to be one of the more interesting people on the panel due to her eccentricity. More than this, she left a cliff-hanger in he panel answer regarding something called “Global English”, which I wanted to know more about. She said that in her world of technical writing, “Global English” was growing to be very important and will probably be even more important in the future. So, I asked her what it was and got an answer, which I will try to re-word here–if I even understood it correctly: “Global English” is a way of writing English in such a way that it is so simple and basic (structure-wise, word use-wise, etc.) that a machine (can’t recall the name) could translate it into any major languages well enough for actual human translators to further translate. Ms. Del Genis said that despite making more money as a technical writer than she would’ve as a teacher or creative writer, her creative life has been sacrificed to work. I appreciated her candidness in telling me that. I tried to suggest/ask if she would be willing to devote more time to her creativity and take a slight loss on money, but she seemed a little hesitant to make that change. Technical writing, I think, is still an option I’m willing to leave open, but if I do get into that field, I hope to not donate so much time to it that it silences my creative side.

Lastly, I talked to Ms. Hauck of Agora and Ms. Lindholm of Scribe America. Ms. Lindholm talked to our group about being a medical scribe, which is something I don’t think I’d be interested in–despite the perks of the job being so awesome (expense-paid travel). When I talked to Ms. Hauck my main intention was to figure out exactly what Agora was all about. I knew that Stevenson and Agora had close ties being as though a lot of alumni have gone on to work for the company, but I had never had a clear understanding of what they published. Much to my disappointment, I cannot recall what Ms. Hauck said Agora publishes, however I remember that she told me that Agora does not publish fiction. She did say there are ways to be creative with what you write and encouraged me to intern, or better, apply for a job. Before the event, I probably would’ve thought to myself, “Nah”. What I learned from the event, though, was that I should broaden my horizons and be open to more internship opportunities because I can learn a number of skills as well as things about myself through different, unexpected experiences.

Overall, the event was spectacular. I appreciate Jennifer Jericho and Dr. Smith for putting on this event for us. I only wish the panelists and other guests were required to bring in a list of websites/sources that led them to their own career. I think that would be helpful because one can only remember so much of what they say and they’d probably think of more valuable information to give if they had time of their own to compile some.

PS: Them roast beef sandwiches was on point.

Book Traces event with Andrew Stauffer

The Book Traces event was enlightening. Andrew Stauffer brought a handful of books to our class from the time period of 1800-1923. These books, which he gave to each of us, were special because they contained authentic marginalia from that time period. In my book–a book of poetry from the 1800s–someone had underlined various lines of sad content. There was only one written marginalia in the book–a date, which Professor Stauffer explained was most likely the date things went wrong with the writer’s relationship.

Professor Stauffer explained the marginalia in the other books as well. For example, Ryan’s book had marginalia which effectively tried to alter the story printed in the book. So funny and extensive were the alterations that the class joked the writer must’ve been an SNL writer before SNL existed. Another book, called Reveries of a Bachelor, had written in it notes from the reader who clearly found the book relatable.

Next, Professor Stauffer pulled up a slideshow of images of books with marginalia. He read the marginalia to us and subsequently told us the stories of the writers based on his and his students’ research. We learned that a lot of the books that had been donated to UVA were sent from homes of Confederate families. The most touching marginalia recounted how the writer, drunk and feeling sentimental, purchased a book which reminded him of the past with his friend. This marginalia was in letter form and was gifted to the recipient with the book.

At the actual Book Traces speech, Professor Stauffer covered much of the same content, since more students and staff were present. However he also included new information. For example, he talked about why books older than 1800 weren’t included in his research (because they were stored away in vaults due to their fragility and rarity). He also talked about flowers as marginalia–often left in books to commemorate loved ones or to illustrate excerpts dealing with flora.

This all deals a lot with the content of our course because we have been learning about how ancient, or simply old, practices are carried over in today’s publishing/technology. Professor Stauffer made a profound statement about how the marginalia between two lovers in the same book was much like how we may text each other today.

Transcription about a Miner.

Told them his history nearly in the following manner–
From the time I was five or six years old till I was thirteen I was employed in the mine we were in together yesterday– describes all he suffered from the tyranny of his elders when he was trap door boy (reports of Soc. for bettering poor) + the habits of deceit which he learned in order to evade the tyranny of Shove who imposed upon him an undue share of worth–how he in his turn became a goal–a leader of a train or sledge for drawing coals–one day a load of coals soon turned, fell upon his leg and lamed him–the proprietor of the mine hearing of the accident sent a surgeon to him + was very kind to him during his illness–came to see him–refused to let his overseer burn

Letterpress Reflection

Learning how to letterpress was so much fun. Ursula Minervini was captivating and very informative. I’m happy we had the opportunity to letterpress hands-on because any other way would not have been as effective. Upon first seeing the box containing the letters I was slightly like “what the hell?”, but once Ursula broke down the corresponding map, my mind went from:

to:

From that point, finding my letters was like going on a treasure hunt and deciphering between the p’s, q’s, b’s, and d’s, was like sorting through booty. As finishing a line of letters in the vice-like contraption (I can’t remember the name), my inner Pavlovian dog rewarded himself by topping the line with leading. After completing this, I was amazed and impressed by Ursula’s uncanny ability to read English upside and backwards. My partner and I were very pleased to have only a few corrections to make. Once our full message was sandwiched in the vice, we placed it in the letterpress along with the other messages of our peers. Then, we entered phase two. We all watched in amazement as Ursula applied ink to the rolls, hit switches here and there, and rolled the paper over our inked letters. She walked each of us through how to do this. I had slight trouble my first time keeping the paper under the stubs, but I got this correct on my second try. My paper came out beautifully. Whenever I glance upon it I will be brought back to fine memories. I’ll never forget the things I learned that day.

Sources:

Drake’s new video for Hotline Bling seems designed to be shared online. Digital image. CBS News Entertainment. N.p., 20 Oct. 2015. Web. 2 Mar. 2017.

Math problems cover blonde woman’s confused face. Digital image. Boing Boing. N.p., 8 Nov. 2016. Web. 2 Mar. 2017.

Folio (1400s-Present)

(youtube: Bindings)

Folio has a few different definitions. For one, it is a sheet of paper folded in half (Google Search). For our purposes, we will use the second definition: “an individual leaf of paper or parchment, numbered on the recto or front side only, occurring either loose as one of a series or forming part of a bound volume” (Google Search). In other words it is one or more fold sheets which have been bound together. Sounds a lot like a book doesn’t it? That’s why I am going to make the leap and say folios are still alive today.

The distinction must be made that folding, printing, cutting, and binding books is done with complex machinery today as opposed to how it was done long ago: by hand. See how it’s done today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRKsW-oVcHg

It’s a little hard to determine when the very first folio was made, as folding a bunch of sheets of paper together and binding them is something that conceivably could have been done at any point in ancient history. Therefore, I will lighten my burden by beginning the history of the folio with the first printed folio, The Gutenberg Bible. The Gutenberg Bible, made in the 15th century, is “the world’s first book printed by movable metal type and hence the celebrated harbinger of the age of printing” (Robinson 513). Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the first moveable printing press ushered in the printing of unprecedented numbers of books.

One of the most important folios, called the First Folio, was compiled in the 17th century. The name is a little misleading, as the First Folio is not the first folio at all, but rather, the first folio to contain all of William Shakespeare’s printed plays. This folio was compiled by friends of Shakespeare, John Heminge and Henry Condell, in 1623–seven years after Shakespeare’s death. This compilation is particularly important, as Robinson notes: “Eighteen of the plays had been previously published in individual, small quarto editions, but the other eighteen, including Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, and The Tempest, had never been printed and, but for Heminge and Condell’s volume, would have been forever lost.” (Robinson 513). This save alone, thanks to Shakespeare’s friends, is extremely clutch. Could you imagine a world with eighteen fewer Shakespeare plays? The only people to benefit from this would be students adverse to reading complex works of art.

Luckily, that was not the case. Shakespeare, just like folios/books in general, took over the world. To this day books in folio form remain the premier way to read lengthy works. Who’d want to read Harry Potter on the computer? Imagining scrolling through the entire series gives me the shudders.

Although folios have had a long history and will continue well into the future, the digital age is taking over. The age of printing is antiquated in the eyes of many and the storing of numerous print books is unnecessary. In fact, some libraries are so overstocked that they have begun destroying books (Licastro).

The printing of the folio ushered in the modern age (Robinson 520) and was the watershed moment that dealt the final blow to manuscripts. Printing reigned hundreds of years and still reigns. Now, however, with the advent of computers, we face another watershed moment–one which may see all publishing occur online, leaving the only existing works of print the works published today.

Sources:

Google Search. Google. Web. 25 Feb. 2017.

HowQueue. “How Books Are Made – How Do They Do IT? (Printing Twilight Books).” YouTube. YouTube, 30 May 2013. Web. 25 Feb. 2017.

“Making a Folio.” YouTube. YouTube, 09 Jan. 2016. Web. 25 Feb. 2017.

Robinson, Fred C. “What Is a Rare Book?.” Sewanee Review, vol. 120, no. 4, Fall 2012, pp. 513-520. EBSCOhost. Web. 25 Feb. 2017.

Creative Commons (2002-Present)

The beginning of Creative Commons is linked to Mickey Mouse (Geere). Just as the copyright for Mickey Mouse was about to expire, the U.S. government passed acts which extended the copyright. This happened like clockwork–during the 60s, 70s, and the 80s (Geere). In the 90s–1998 to be specific–the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act was passed, which extended copyrights another 20 years (Geere). Enter Eric Eldred. Eldred, a business owner who ran a website that reprinted works with expired copyrights, was clearly in danger. With Sonny Bono in place, Eldred saw that he would not have any new works to reproduce for the next 20 years (Geere). He decided to bring his case to court (Geere). Armed with a group of professionals, including an MIT professor and a Harvard staff-member, Eldred argued that the act was unconstitutional (Geere). The court case, and further appeals (even up to the Federal Supreme Court level), was lost (Geere).

The group of professionals did not take this as defeat. They branded themselves Creative Commons and took matters into their own hands. The goal of Creative Commons was this: “The Creative Commons will provide a free set of tools to enable creators to share aspects of their copyrighted works with the public” (Geere). They made this known to the world with their 2002 press release, which also brilliantly said: “We stand on the shoulders of giants by revisiting, reusing, and transforming the ideas and works of our peers and predecessors” (Geere). Publicity was brought to Creative Commons because of its Supreme Court Case. Subsequently, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation donated $1,000,000 to Creative Commons which solidified the movement (Geere). By the next year, 2003, Creative Commons got access to one million works (Geere). As of 2011, Creative Commons has gained access to 350 million works (Geere).

The fight over the rights to one’s work spans back to year 561 in Ireland (Geere). Two saints, Columba and Finian, got into a feud over who had rights to the copies Columba made of Finian’s book (Geere). The feud was so intense that a battle was fought to determine who had copies’ rights (Geere). People died and Columba exiled himself from Ireland (Geere). In about a thousand years–with the invention of the printing press–printing companies had exclusive rights to whatever books it printed-rights neither public or even the author had (Geere)! The Statute of Anne act of 1709 remedied this issue (Geere). The act limited publishers’ rights to works to 14 years (Geere). As Duncan Geere puts it, The Statute of Anne “created the concept of a public domain for the first time, where the general public owns a creative work” (Geere).

Now, because of Creative Commons, art, science, and other forms of media are being made available for public use at an amazing rate. A new wave of creators are realizing there is more to be gained socially than financially by giving up their rights. This is happening all over the world, as Creative Commons intends.

This yields both good news and bad news. On one hand, more information is more accessible and more easily spread, which results in further remixing of works/information and more learning opportunities. However, as some photographers have noted, users can misinterpret or avoid the proper Creative Commons license on their works and use them for profit, without having permission. One photographer had this to say:

“The CC standard says that photographers should get credit, but I discovered that I was not being credited and that there were occasions when the photos were being ascribed to other photographers. On another occasion I found an all rights reserved copyright photo being used. It had been taken from Flickr. The photo was removed and the people who took it told me that they thought it was available for use, even though it was marked. There are people out there who think Flickr equals free to use.” (Scott).

Thus in a world that’s becoming Creative Commons friendly, it is still in the creator’s best interest to make sure their work is licensed correctly (Bert-Erboul).

Sources:

Bert-Erboul, Clément. “The Creative Commons . A third way between public domain and community? “, Sociological and Anthropological Research. 2015. online 21 April 2016. Web. Accessed 24 February 2017.

Geere, Duncan. “The history of Creative Commons.” WIRED UK. WIRED UK, 22 May 2016. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.

Scott, Katie. “What does Creative Commons mean for photography?” WIRED UK. WIRED UK, 23 May 2016. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.

Randell, John. Creative Commons logo, 3 Mar. 2010. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.

 

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) – (1880s-Present)

Technology was booming in the 1880s. It was as though everybody and their mama had some new invention to usher in. Some inventions failed, some inventions succeeded. Several companies with successful inventions would go on to merge as one: Computing – Tabulating – Recording Company (C-T-R) (Chronological History of IBM). In four years–under Thomas J. Watson’s leadership– C-T-R would double its revenue (Chronological History of IBM). Moving into the 1920s, having experienced immense growth and undertaking new activities, C-T-R decided it had outgrown its name (Chronological History of IBM). Thus on Valentine’s day, 1924, C-T-R changed to International Business Machines Corporation (Chronological History of IBM). The reason for the name change was that the corporation was expanding globally: “During Watson’s first four years… expanded the company’s operations to Europe, South America, Asia and Australia” (Chronological History of IBM). IBM not only survived during the 1930s Great Depression, it thrived, becoming one of the first corporations to provide: group life insurance, survivor benefits, and paid vacation (Chronological History of IBM).

Moving into the 40s, IBM was vital to the U.S. war efforts (Chronological History of IBM). It manufactured over three dozen different types of weaponry and “establish[ed] a fund for widows and orphans of IBM war casualties” (Chronological History of IBM). In the second half of the 40s, IBM introduced the first machines “that could execute long computations automatically”–calculators (Chronological History of IBM).

It should be noted that IBM’s activities during WWII are controversial to this day. IBM technology was used by Nazis in the undertaking of the Holocaust (Ramasastry). For its alleged complicity in the genocide, IBM has been taken to court numerous times (Ramasastry). IBM denies aiding and abetting Nazis, saying “that by this time this occurred, the Nazis had already taken over Dehomag — so that IBM had no control over operations there, or over how Nazis used IBM machines” (Ramasastry). In 2001, IBM donated $3 million to a German Holocaust Fund, making it clear however that it does not admit liability (Ramasastry).

The 50s saw IBM’s creation of the first computers, used for “business applications such as billing, payroll and inventory control”–basic functions modern computers (Chronological History of IBM). IBM further changed the game in 1959, by introducing “random access”, which “could retrieve data stored on any of the 50 spinning disks” without having to painstakingly go through each piece of data (Chronological History of IBM). Further success was gained in the 60s–IBM made more revenue by offering hardware individually, as opposed to just in bundles (Chronological History of IBM). Secondly, computers were made to be faster and capable of storing more (Chronological History of IBM).

Floppy disks, Consumer Transaction Facilities (predecessors of ATMs), and supermarket checkout stations were introduced in the 70s (Chronological History of IBM). IBM became a part of daily life in the 80s with the creation of the IBM Personal Computer, which was compact enough for the home, small business, or school (Chronological History of IBM).

In the 90s, IBM faced and overcame two technological revolutions: the PC revolution and the client/server revolution (Chronological History of IBM). IBM, which had had “long-standing customer relationships” with clients such as the U.S. military, was forced to adapt to millions of customers–everyday folks who purchased PCs (Chronological History of IBM). Another issue with having millions of customers was that they demanded to be linked to the IBM servers–large computers “that served data and applications” (Chronological History of IBM). These problems were addressed by streamlining IBM’s operations (Chronological History of IBM).

Nothing has slowed down for IBM. Since the 2000s, IBM has won numerous awards for technological innovations and has acquired more patents (8,088) than any other company (24 Years of IBM Patent Leadership) .

C-T-R, later IBM, was born out of the government’s need to find an effective way to take a census (Chronological History of IBM). When several companies stepped up to the plate to solve the census problem, they realized consolidation rather than competition was the best way to advance technology and earn revenue (Chronological History of IBM). As arguably the most prolific company of all time, IBM still tries to outdo itself to this day. For example, in the near future IBM’s Chef Watson app, which invents new recipes (Cooking with Chef Watson, I.B.M.’s Artificial-Intelligence App), may save us all from our mundane cooking habits.

IBM’s revolutionary business practices can be recognized in companies across every field. Apple, for example, with its employee benefits, forward-thinkingness, product diversification, and customer service (Chronological History of IBM) is a mirror image of the foundation IBM has laid. IBM was one of the first companies to taut its internationality, thus inspiring others to do the same. Further, IBM technology is ubiquitous. If you’ve ever played with Nintendo Wii, you’ve played with something thats been made possible by IBM (IBM’s 45nm SOI microprocessors at core of Nintendo Wii U).

Sources:

“1889” – “2008”. IBM Archives: 1889-2008. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.

“24 Years of IBM Patent Leadership.” IBM Press room RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2017.

Kleeman, Alexandra. “Cooking with Chef Watson, I.B.M.’s Artificial-Intelligence App.” The New Yorker. The New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2016. Web. 25 Feb. 2017.

Leung, Isaac. “IBM’s 45nm SOI microprocessors at core of Nintendo Wii U”. Electronicsnews.com, 8 June 2011. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.

Pugh, Emerson W. Building IBM : Shaping an Industry and Its Technology. The MIT Press, 1995. History of Computing. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.

Ramasastry, Anita. “A Swiss court allows Gypsies’ Holocaust lawsuit to proceed.” CNN. Cable News Network, 8 July 2004. Web. 25 Feb. 2017.

Viscovery. IBM Partner World, 9 Mar. 2015. Web. 23 Feb 2017.