IBM 125th Anniversary: 1100100 and counting

June 14, 2011 Sorin Adam Matei

In an industry where the highest valued companies (Microsoft, Apple or Google) can count their age in mere decades, IBM goes all the way to the 1880s. Hollerith’s counting machine, whose patent was later purchased by what will become IBM, pioneered the earliest type of digital recording of information. Yet, IBM’s success is the product not of squeezing the last electron from computer chips, but of selling peace of mind. About 50% of IBM’s revenue comes from services. By this account, IBM is the greatest customer service company there was.

via the Economist IBM: 1100100 and counting.

Sorin Adam Matei

Assistant Vice President for Partnerships in Strategic Defense Innnovation and Professor of Communication at Purdue University, Director of the FORCES initiative leads research teams that study the relationship between technological and social systems using big data, simulation, and mapping approaches. He published papers and articles in Journal of Communication, Communication Research, Information Society, National Interest, and Foreign Policy. He is the author or co-editor of several books. The most recent is Structural differentation in social media. He also co-edited Ethical Reasoning in Big Data,Transparency in social media and Roles, Trust, and Reputation in Social Media Knowledge Markets: Theory and Methods (Computational Social Sciences) , all three the product of the NSF funded KredibleNet project. Dr. Matei's teaching portfolio includes technology and strategy, online interaction, and digital media analytics classes. A former BBC World Service journalist, his contributions have been published in Esquire and several leading Romanian newspapers. In Romania, he is known for his books Boierii Mintii (The Mind Boyars), Idolii forului (Idols of the forum), and Idei de schimb (Spare ideas).

Sorin Adam Matei

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