IBM is synonymous with mainframe computers. The company traces its lineage back to the Tabulating Machine Company built around an 1890's card-punch device invented by Herman Hollerith. IBM did not dominate the computer market until 1964 when it introduced the IBM System/360 mainframes that were to be the staple of business computing for a quarter of a century. The history of IBM is expertly chronicled in Building IBM: Shaping an Industry and its Technology by Emerson W. Pugh (MIT Press, 1995) and the video The Computer Revolution: Birth of the Computer (available from Films for the Humanities and Sciences).

IBM is not the only mainframe vendor, but its Web site at www.ibm.com is a good place to find information on the latest mainframe technology.

Additional Links

IBM S/390   At this Web site, you can read reviews of IBM's S/390 series of mainframe computers, learn how Lotus's Domino software is enabling network computing for the S/390 series, learn how the S/390 helps companies analyze and use the data they collect, and read stories about how different companies use the S/390 to achieve success in their industries.