Cortada J.W. Before the Computer: IBM, NCR, Burroughs, & Remington Rand & the Industry They Created, 1865-1956

Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993. — 399 p."Before the Computer" fully explores the data processing industry in the United States from its nineteenth-century inception down to the period when the computer became its primary tool. As James Cortada describes what was once called the "office appliance industry," he challenges our view of the digital computer as a revolutionary technology. Cortada interprets reliance on computers as a development within an important segment of the American economy that was earlier represented largely by such instruments as typewriters, tabulating machines, adding machines, and calculators. He also describes how many of the practices of the office appliance industry evolved into those of the computer world. Drawing on previously unavailable industry archives, the author adds to our understanding of IBM's early history and offers short corporate histories of firms that include NCR, Burroughs, and Remington Rand. Focusing on the United States but also including comparative material on Europe and Asia, Before the Computer will be a unique source of knowledge about the companies that built office equipment and their enormous impact on economic life.List of Illustrations
List of Figures
List of TablesOrigins of a New IndustryFrom Opportunities to Typewriters
Economic Preconditions and Influences
Inventors and Vendors on Opportunity
Development of the Typewriter
The Typewriter Industry between and
Adding and Calculating Machines
The Burroughs Adding Machine Company
Non-US Sales of Adding and Calculating Machines
The Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company
Developments in EuropeHollerith and the Development of Punched Card Tabulation
Tabulating Equipment Uses and Market, - World War I
Formation and Performance of the Tabulating Machine Company, - World War I
The Powers Accounting Machine Company
Hollerith-Powers Rivalry
Other Punched Card Projects and Vendors
Changing Patterns of the Office Workplace, Technology, and People
Development of the Cash Register
Rise of the National Cash Register Company
Innovations in Cash Registers, -
NCR's Successes
Number of NCR Cash Registers Sold, - (selected years)
Annual Volumes of Cash Registers Manufactured, National Cash Register and Their Sales Values, -
Names of Some National Cash Register Company Subsidiaries, late s
NCR's Legal Problems
Rudiments of an Industry Identified
World War I
Size of the IndustryAn Age of Office mashinesEconomic Conditions and the Role of Standardization
Economic Adjustments and Prosperity in the s
Control and Standardization
Market Segments and Suppliers in the sPunched Card Products and Development
Consolidations, Courts, and Punched Card Vendors, -
Practices and Prices in the Tabulating Machine BusinessCommercial and Administrative Uses
Scientific and Engineering UsesInternational Trade in Punched Card Machines
The Great Depression in the United States
The Case of IBM
The Case of Powers/Remington RandIndustry Structure
Large Accounting Machines: Uses and Types
Adding Machines: Uses and Types
Calculators: Uses and TypesPlayers and Practices
Performance of the Burroughs Adding Machine Company
Performance of the National Cash Register Company
Non-US Activities
Industry Volumes
Impact of Office EquipmentWorld War II and the Postwar Office Appliance IndustryEconomics, Government Controls, and Applications
Economic Environment
US Government Controls over the Industry
Role of the War Production Board
Price Controls and Sales Deliveries
Wartime ApplicationsBurroughs Adding Machine Company
National Cash Register Company
International Business Machines
Remington RandEconomic Environment
Postwar Industry Structure
International Business Machines
Remington Rand
National Cash Register
Burroughs
US Antitrust Activities
Foreign Trade
US Industry Volumes
Conclusion: The Roles of Marketing, Distribution, and Technology
Marketing and Distribution
Competition
Practices
An American Industry
Technological Innovation and Transfer
Technology, Products, and Productivity
Notes