A Market For Only Five Computers
"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers" is often attributed to Thomas Watson; Senior in 1943 and Junior at several dates in the 1950s. This misquote is from the 1953 IBM annual stockholders meeting. Thomas Watson, Jr. was describing the market acceptance of the IBM 701 computer. Before production began, Watson visited with 20 companies that were potential customers. This is what he said at the stockholders meeting, "as a result of our trip, on which we expected to get orders for five machines, we came home with orders for 18.”
Aviation Week for 11 May 1953 says the 701 rental charge was about $12,000 a month.
Read more about this topic: IBM 701
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