ORIGINALLY POSTED June 11th 2011

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When Nigel asked the question about IBM’s age in Infosmack 101 I was initially amazed hat everyone didn’t instantly know that IBM is 100 this years young this year, next week infact.

I guess internally we’ve had a lot more press about this than there has been externally. Anyway, on 16th June 2011 IBM as we ‘kind of’ know it, will be 100 years old. I say ‘kind of’ because there is a lot of pre-history before 1911, when Charles R. Flint merged the International Time Recording Company, the Computing Scale Company and the Tabulating Machine Company to form the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR).

Before that, there were many more logos and names!

“Just as a nation’s flag expresses the distinct identity of a country, so, too, a logotype — typically a symbol or letters — helps to establish the name and define the character of a corporation. Effective logos become synonymous with the organizations they portray. They are instantly recognized by millions of people, and help to identify their companies and convey a message about the brands for which they stand. Down through the years, IBM (and its predecessor companies) has used a series of logos on signs, stationery, vehicles, products — and even flags — to make a distinctive statement and foster immediate recognition all over the world. Here are those logos.”

International Time Recording Company	Computing Scale Company	Computing Tabulating Recording
1889-1914-	1891-1914	1911-1924

In 1924, the CTR changed its name to International Business Machines Corporation. The new logo intended to suggest a globe and adopting the word “International” The logo changed again another two times before we reach the all familiar TLA with 8 bands or stripes… In 1947, the globe logo was replaced by a simple outline “IBM”. In 1956 the outline was filled in, and the proportions of the letters become more familiar, before we reach the (to this day) familiar logo which was first used in 1972.

1924-1947-	1947-1956	1956-1972	1972-present

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Thinking about the interconnected world we populate today, its hard to think about what the people of 100 years ago would think of our Web, WI-FI and Wii’s …

I know I work for them, and have been blue-washed for the last decade or so… but just what IBMers have achieved in the last 100 years is quite astonishing

Its well worth bookmarking this webpage, I’ve been watching it since the start of the year, updated at least once a week it covers the key IBM’ers The Icons of Progress