Browsing by Subject "International Computers and Tabulators, ltd."

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    Oral history interview with Arthur L. C. Humphreys
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1981-02-28) Humphreys, Arthur L. C.
    Humphreys, a former managing director of International Computers, Limited (ICL), reviews the history of the British computer industry. Topics include: the termination in 1949 of the trade agreement between IBM and the British Tabulating Machine Company, the merger in 1959 of British Tabulating and the Powers Samas Company into International Computers and Tabulators, Ltd. (ICT), and the merger in 1968 of English Electric Computers Limited and ICT into ICL. Humphreys explains how the last merger was enacted by the government to establish a single national computer company. He recalls the government's pride, as expressed by Prime Minister Harold Wilson, in maintaining a position in the international computer industry. Humphreys also discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the British computer industry, and compares the management of the British and American computer industries. He mentions the European Economic Community's efforts to establish Unidata, a multinational computer company, and the problems associated with conducting business across Europe's linguistic and cultural boundaries.
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    Oral history interview with James W. Birkenstock and Thomas J. Watson, Jr.
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1985-04-25) Birkenstock, James W. (James Warren), 1912-; Watson, Thomas J., 1914-
    Watson and Birkenstock discuss the circumstances surrounding the decision reached by Thomas J. Watson, Sr., and Raleigh Phillpotts, chairman of british Tabulating Machines Company (BTM), to end the original licensing agreement between International Business Machines (IBM), BTM, and International Computers, Ltd. during World War II and after 1949. the interview covers the original agreement made in the early 1900s by Herman Hollerith, the relationship between IBM and BTM during World War II and after 1949, and the IBM license agreements with Cyril Holland-Martin and Gerhard Dirks.