The 1970s saw the end of more than a half-century of Watson family leadership.
Thomas J. Watson, Jr., stepped down as CEO in 1971. After an interim period of
leadership by T. Vincent Learson, Frank T. Cary took over the company in 1973.
Watson served as U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1979 to 1981 and
remained a member of IBM's board of directors until 1984. He died in 1993 at the
age of 79.
During Cary's tenure, the computer industry expanded and wove its way into
everyday life. The floppy disk, introduced in 1971, became the standard for
storing personal computer data. When people shopped for groceries, IBM's
supermarket checkout station, introduced in 1973, used glass prisms, lenses and a
laser to read product prices. Also in 1973, bank customers began making
withdrawals, transfers and other account inquiries via the IBM 3614 Consumer
Transaction Facility, an early form of today's Automatic Teller Machines.
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In IBM's most important product announcement since the System/360 in 1964, the IBM
System/370 is introduced. Able to run System/360 programs, the System/370 is one
of the first lines of computers to include "virtual memory" technology, a
technique developed in England in 1962 to expand the capabilities of the computer
by using space on the hard drive to accommodate the memory requirements of
software.
The System/370 Model 145 is the first general-purpose business computer to use
monolithic circuits in all memory and logic functions, and uses semiconductor
technology rather than magnetic cores.
The concept of a relational database, first published in a paper by an IBM
researcher, calls for information stored within a computer to be arranged in
easy-to-interpret tables so that non-technical users can manage and access large
amounts of data. Today, nearly all database structures are based upon the
relational database concept.
Arthur K. Watson, vice chairman of IBM board and chairman of the board of IBM
World Trade Corporation, resigns to become U.S. Ambassador to France.
Also introduced are the IBM Copier, the company's entry into the photocopy
business, and a sensor-based System/7 for process, manufacturing and laboratory
applications. In addition, IBM launches a low-cost System/3 Model 6, with the
ability to process standard ledger cards and switch easily from business
applications to complex mathematical problem solving.
IBM computers in Houston assist flight controllers in the dramatic rescue of the
Apollo 13 astronauts.
IBM research scientists use electron beam to make electronic components.
