[SIGCIS-Members] New History of IBM

[Brian E Carpenter]

A very timely note, Paul. I see that IBM's final lease at 1701 North St, Endicott expires *today*, October 31, 2023:
https://www.pressconnects.com/story/money/2023/05/02/ibm-leaving-endicott-ny-offices-behind-what-to-know/70159966007/

When I was with IBM, I visited the Endicott site a couple of times for discussions with the team responsible for networking software on the AS/400 series machines. That was just about the nicest, friendliest team I encountered anywhere in IBM. There was great pride in the very elegant OS/400 operating system, which was rather innovative with its virtualized platform-independent design (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_i).

Regards
    Brian Carpenter

On 31-Oct-23 03:15, Ceruzzi, Paul via Members wrote:
> Congratulations, Jim.
> I look forward to reading your book. On a related note, I see that the IBM facilities in Endicott, long a vacant and depressing site, have now been repurposed as a facility for the manufacture of Lithium-ion batteries. The best news I've heard about the Endicott region in years:
> 
> https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/binghamton/news/2022/08/02/exclusive-look-inside-first-lithium-ion-battery-factory <https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/binghamton/news/2022/08/02/exclusive-look-inside-first-lithium-ion-battery-factory>
> 
> Best,
> 
> Paul Ceruzzi
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* Members <members-bounces at lists.sigcis.org> on behalf of James Cortada via Members <members at lists.sigcis.org>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, October 18, 2023 9:51 AM
> *To:* sigcis <members at sigcis.org>
> *Subject:* [SIGCIS-Members] New History of IBM
> 
> *External Email - Exercise Caution*
> 
> Dear colleagues, Columbia University Press just published my next book about IBM, /Inside IBM: Lessons of a Corporate Culture in Action. /Unlike my earlier history of the firm published by MIT in 2019 (/IBM: The Rise and Fall and Reinvention of a Global Icon/) this one is an experiment to see if a history of a high tech firm can be written from the perspective of cultural studies and sociology.  I discuss the company’s strong culture, role of humor, image building, effects on products (e.g., computers), material culture ephemera (e.g., coffee mugs and postcards), and relations with employees and their families.  Columbia University Press has made this book available to us at a 20% discount off its $45 list price if ordered directly from the publisher.  Use promo code CUP20 at its website.  If you read the book, please let me know what you think of my experiment.  Jim Cortada
> 
> 
> -- 
> James W. Cortada
> Senior Research Fellow
> Charles Babbage Institute
> University of Minnesota
> jcortada at umn.edu <mailto:jcortada at umn.edu>
> 608-274-6382
> 
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