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Comment by stevenjgarner

"It is 1958. IBM passes up the chance to buy a young, fledgling company that has invented a new technology called xerography. Two years later, Xerox is born, and IBM has been kicking themselves ever since. It is ten years later, the late '60s. Digital Equipment DEC and others invent the minicomputer. IBM dismisses the minicomputer as too small to do serious computing and, therefore, unimportant to their business. DEC grows to become a multi-hundred-million dollar corporation before IBM finally enters the minicomputer market. It is now ten years later, the late '70s. In 1977, Apple, a young fledgling company on the West Coast, invents the Apple II, the first personal computer as we know it today. IBM dismisses the personal computer as too small to do serious computing and unimportant to their business." - Steve Jobs [1][2][3]

Now, "IBM CEO says there is 'no way' spending on AI data centers will pay off". IBM has not exactly had a stellar record at identifying the future.

[1] https://speakola.com/ideas/steve-jobs-1984-ad-launch-1983

[2] https://archive.org/details/1983-10-22-steve-jobs-keynote

[3] https://theinventors.org/library/inventors/blxerox.htm

parent stevenjgarner 11 months ago

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