Way to go IBM (Score 4)

These are all nice new technologies, but let' s hope IBM knows how to use them. Historically IBM has created quite a few technologies; unfortunately the management has, in the past, simply thrown the innovations away. Here are a couple examples:

• Non-impact printing, i.e. electrostatic. IBM invented this in the 1950s, but the chief innovator got disgusted and left, forming a tiny company called Xerox.
• Magnetic stripe recording. IBM engineers invented this in the 1960s for the BART train ticketing system. It was stolen from them by a French company.
• IBM also created the first multisession WORM discs. Management killed the project, complaining that you couldn't erase old data.
• Video cassettes as tape backups. IBM engineers figured out how to pack about 10GB onto one VHS cassette. Management didn't like it because it wasn't random access, like a floppy disk.

On the other hand, many IBM innovations did make it, such as the magnetic hard drive. IBM still makes great hard drives.

The article didn't say it, but allowing RAM transistors to exist below other circuitry effectively doubles the data density of existing DRAM chips. How does tens of gigabytes of RAM sound? The problem: how do you cool double the amount of heat coming from those RAM chips?

I am looking forward to the faster and better computers and devices that will come from these innovations.

--------------------------------------