I guess I need to volunteer some help. Professor Irani, I am the author of a fat history of IBM and while I am not familiar with the specifics of the Iranian story, I can probably get you far closer to it than might others and I can certainly brief you on the Russian smuggling as that was a real and serious problem in the 1970s. Perhaps we can chat by phone 608-274-6382 (Central Time Zone) or by zoom. BTW, I am in my office right now. Jim Cortada On Fri, Dec 9, 2022 at 10:54 AM Lilly Irani via Members < members@lists.sigcis.org> wrote:
Hello!
I come to you all with a question about IBM in Iran in the 1970s. A SIGCIS colleague suggested this list is a generous space filled with IBM experts.
I have an old family story told to me by my family about IBM dumping computers into the ocean to maintain secrecy of its engineering designs. I am looking for help either corroborating it or understanding what really happened, as the person who told me the story no longer remembers it.
Longer version with context: My mom worked at IBM in Tehran in the 1970s in customer support phone answering, then in a program room where clients would bring code tape/reels to process, and finally in a procurement department.
I remember my mom telling me a story about IBM throwing computers in Iran into the ocean when they were disposed of because they did not want Iranians to learn how to build their own computer.
Now she doesn't remember this. I interviewed my mom about what she did remember. She talked about the Shah asking IBM to manufacture computers in Iran in the 1970s and IBM rebuffed him. She also said that IBM probably didn't want the Soviets to get access to computers and Iran shares a 2000 mile border with Iran so that might be why they'd dump computers in the ocean but they'd do it in the gulf, not the caspian which bordered the USSR.
*Can the IBM experts in this community advise me on where or how I might inquire into these dynamics of secrecy and refusal to tech transfer, but also specifically into how IBM did dispose of computers during this period in Iran or similar locations?*
Thank you so much, Lilly Irani UC San Diego, Communication & Science Studies
-- Lilly Irani Associate Professor, Communication & Science Studies Co-Director, Just Transitions Initiative Faculty, Design Lab Affiliate Faculty, Computer Science Member, Institute for Practical Ethics http://quote.ucsd.edu/lirani/ http://justtransitions.ucsd.edu/
Books: Redacted <https://tallercalifornia.cargo.site/Libros> (Taller California 2021) | Chasing Innovation <https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691175140/chasing-innovation> (Princeton University Press 2019)
I respectfully acknowledge that we live and work on the unceded territory of the Kumeyaay Nation that spans across and precedes the US-Mexico border.
_______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org
-- James W. Cortada Senior Research Fellow Charles Babbage Institute University of Minnesota jcortada@umn.edu 608-274-6382