IBM celebrates 100 year of innovative excellence. This video, IBM Centennial Film, wonderfully crafted, takes you through the impressive achievements of IBM
1891, Edward Canby and Orange O. Ozias, two businessmen from Dayton, Ohio, purchase the patents for the newly invented computing scale and incorporated the Computing Scale Company for the production of commercial scales
1911: The International Time Recording Company (ITR) begins as the “Bundy Manufacturing Company” in Auburn, New York. ITR’s main product line were mechanical time recorders invented and patented by Willard L. Bundy in 1888.
1911: Financier Charles R. Flint directs the merger of the International Time Recording Company, the Computing Scale Company and the Tabulating Machine Company to form the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR).
1914 Thomas J. Watson, Sr., named general manager of CTR. Watson emphasizes research and engineering, and introduced into the company his famous motto “THINK.”
1924: the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company adopts the name International Business Machines Corporation. IBM borrowed on the equities in its brand image and reputation to help carry it through a difficult transition from the punched-card tabulating business to computers. It began with a change to the logotype, the first in 22 years.
1947: IBM’s new logo appears on the masthead of the January 1, 1947 issue of Business Machines with little fanfare. The familiar “globe” was replaced with the simple letters “IBM” in a typeface called Beton Bold.
1956: shortly before he died, Thomas J. Watson, Sr., presided over the official installation of his son as IBM’s chief executive. Tom Watson, Jr. moved quickly, using both actions and symbols to signify a new era. The first visible expression was a relatively subtle change in the company’s logotype subtle, in part, to communicate that any changes would come within an overall continuity. Created by noted graphic designer Paul Rand, the new logotype replaced the former Beton Bold typography with City Medium, as the letters “IBM” took on a more solid, grounded and balanced appearance.
In 1972, the company introduced a new version of the logotype. Designed by Paul Rand, horizontal stripes now replaced the solid letters to suggest “speed and dynamism.” In the intervening quarter-century, the basic design has remained constant, one of the most recognized logotypes in the world, and a design that has been widely imitated by others.