«
»

IBM Turns 100: the 5 Most Important Inventions You Use Today

On June 16, 2011, the International Business Machines, better known as IBM, turned 100 years old.  IBM is the best-known American computer manufacturer, founded by Thomas J. Watson, and has stayed vital and important for most of its history.  This company has created and designed many prominent inventions that are widely used today.  Here is a list of five of their most important inventions, so far:

International Business Machines, better known as IBM, turned 100 years old on June 16, 2011. Here are five of IBM's most important inventions that we still use today.The Magnetic Stripe Technology: This is the thin, black stripe you can see on the back of credit cards, drivers’ licenses and many other cards.  With this invention, buying things became much simpler and faster.  What they don’t realize is what a major shift this seemingly simple technology represented for retail, transportation and daily life.

How Magnetic Stripe Technology works on YouTube:

Computing Scale: Used to weigh and price things that any vendor can use.  This invention saved retailers a lot of money.

In 1885 Julius Pitrap of Gallipolis, Ohio, patented the first computing scale. Six years later, Edward Canby and Orange Ozias of Dayton, Ohio, purchased Pitrap's patents and incorporated The Computing Scale Company as the world's first computing scale vendor. And four years after that, The Computing Scale Company introduced the first automatic computing scale, shown here. In 1911, the Computing Scale Company merged with the International Time Recording Company and Tabulating Machine Company to form the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company, a business that was renamed IBM in 1924.

International Business Machines, better known as IBM, turned 100 years old on June 16, 2011. Here are five of IBM's most important inventions that we still use today.The Universal Product Code: Even though barcodes were dreamed up and patented in the late 1940s and early 1950s, it wasn’t in use until lasers emerged years later that they could be digitally read.  This technology sped up checkouts and improved inventory-keeping.

The Time Clock: The invention had an “IN” and an “OUT” slot, used to keep track of each employee’s attendance.

International Business Machines, better known as IBM, turned 100 years old on June 16, 2011. Here are five of IBM's most important inventions that we still use today.

International Business Machines, better known as IBM, turned 100 years old on June 16, 2011. Here are five of IBM's most important inventions that we still use today.The Automated Test Scoring: In 1937, IBM introduced the 805 Test Scoring Machine.  This machine graded test answers that have been marked on a certain paper with a No. 2 pencil, making grading much easier for teachers.

When most people think of IBM, they think of computers.  Well, they did invent the PC in the 1980s, but they have many more inventions that are still in use today.  Their inventions have helped ease the daily life of many people, such as managers, teachers, students, store owners, and many employees.  IBM has many other inventions that have made our lives easier and should be greatly appreciated.  Congratulations to this successful company.

Add to FacebookAdd to DiggAdd to Del.icio.usAdd to StumbleuponAdd to RedditAdd to BlinklistAdd to TwitterAdd to TechnoratiAdd to Yahoo BuzzAdd to Newsvine

Taylor P.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

This entry was posted on June 23, 2011 at 6:41 pm and is filed under Blogging, Culture, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Leave a comment