IBM develops the SABRE (Semi-Automatic Business-Related Environment) reservation
system for American Airlines, the industry's first to work over phone lines in
"real time." The system links high-speed computers and data communications to
handle seat inventory and passenger records from terminals in more than 50 cities.
Using the Telstar satellite, IBM sends computer information back and forth between
Endicott, New York and La Gaude, France.
Drawing on established IBM policies, Thomas J. Watson, Jr., codifies three IBM
basic beliefs: respect for the individual, customer service, and excellence.
IBM announces the IBM 1311 Disk Storage Drive, the first storage unit with
interchangeable disks packs, each capable of holding 2 million characters. The
concept of interchangeable disk packs lowered storage costs by making it possible
to store information off-line.
The last IBM 650 Magnetic Drum Calculator is manufactured. Nearly 2,000 IBM 650s
are sold in the 1953-1962 period, making the 650 the most popular computer of the
1950s.
The first Invention Award Dinner honors 34 outstanding IBM inventors.
IBM scientists succeed in operating a semiconductor diode laser powered directly
by an electric current rather than an external light source.
An experimental thin film memory that operates at a speed of 100 billionths of a
second is demonstrated.
