1. From Tabulating Machines to IBM

Founded in 1911. It started with punch card tabulating machines used for national censuses and later renamed itself IBM (International Business Machines).

2. System/360 and the Mainframe

Announced in 1964, the “System/360” was a historic mainframe (large computer) that provided software compatibility and built the infrastructure for financial and government institutions around the world.

  graph LR
    Punch["Punch Cards"] --> Mainframe["System/360"]
    Mainframe --> PC["IBM PC (1981)"]
    PC --> Watson["AI Watson"]
    Watson --> Quantum["Quantum Computing"]

3. The IBM PC and Open Architecture

The IBM PC, released in 1981, adopted an open architecture, creating a huge market for “PC/AT compatibles” and spurring the rise of Microsoft and Intel.

4. Quantum Computers and Hybrid Cloud

Having sold off its PC and server businesses, IBM continues to evolve today as a company leading the world in the development of “hybrid cloud,” “AI,” and superconducting quantum computers (IBM Quantum).