Before the Computer: IBM, NCR, Burroughs, and Remington Rand and the Industry They Created, 1865-1956(Princeton Legacy Library)

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. Originally published in 1993. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Table of Contents:
List of IllustrationsList of FiguresList of TablesPrefaceAcknowledgmentsPt. 1Origins of a New Industry, 1865-192011From Opportunities to Typewriters32Adding and Calculating Machines253Hollerith and the Development of Punched Card Tabulation444Cash Registers and the National Cash Register Company645Rudiments of an Industry Identified79Pt. 2An Age of Office Machines, 1920-1941896Economic Conditions and the Role of Standardization917Products, Practices, and Prices1058Commercial and Scientific Applications of Punched Card Machines1289International Trade in Punched Card Machines13710The Great Depression in the United States14411IBM and Powers/Remington Rand14912Other Accounting Machines and Their Uses15813Vendors, Practices, and Results171Pt. 3World War II and the Postwar Office Appliance Industry, 1941-195618714Economics, Government Controls, and Applications18915The Role of Major Vendors, 1939-194620616Industry Structure, Vendors, and Practices, 1945-195622217Business Volumes24718Conclusion: The Roles of Marketing, Distribution, and Technology264Notes289Index331

Review :
"The computer didn't spring full-blown from the brows of men like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. The automation movement that prepared the way for today's personal computer, the author shows, began in the 19th century with the invention of the typewriter and the adding machine."--Washington Post Book World "Easily the best attempt to date to integrate the present-day computer industry with its office machine past. It is strongly recommended as a significant contribution to the literature of the history of computing and the information handling industries."--Martin Campbell-Kelly, Business History "This beautifully produced book ... makes an essential contribution to the history of data processing and computing. Its data alone should make the book a basic reference for scholars."--Steven W. Usselman, American Scientist