The appearance of computers marked the beginning of the digital technologies era in Toronto. The IBM company began to produce them in 1981. Over the years, it has become an international corporation with offices and software labs all over the world! Learn more about how it began to produce modern gadgets as well as create programmes and systems for collecting, analysing and processing information at toronto-future.
How did IBM and the first computers appear in Toronto?
IBM foundation in Toronto
At the end of the 19th century, there was a large Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR) in the city, which consisted of three united companies. The history of IBM began thanks to the development of that very company.
According to historical information, CTR was incorporated by Charles R. Flint in New York in 1911. Initially, the company sold a variety of products, ranging from vegetable cutters to tabulators and punch cards. Then the company began opening its branches in the USA and Canada.
In 1917, CTR opened its first branch in Toronto. A few years later, it became a large company called International Business Machines, which specialised in recording, processing, transmitting, storing and searching for information.
In 1914, Thomas J. Watson became the company’s CEO. Soon after that, he introduced a new business approach that has defined the company’s uniqueness ever since. It included a positive outlook, quality customer service and the slogan “THINK”. By 1915, Watson had become the company’s president, and in four years, IBM’s revenue had more than doubled.
Expanding the range of production and creation of a computer
During the First World War, the company had new opportunities to increase its product range due to the acquisition of patents and property of former competitors. On February 14, 1924, it registered the IBM brand. Also, the US government began to use the company’s branches for the production of military equipment. The range of its products expanded again because of the production of bomb trailers, rifles and engine parts. It also aimed at developing a device for solving complex mathematical calculations and controlling military equipment.
In 1944, a calculating machine was created that could solve examples of addition in less than a second, multiplication in six seconds and division in about 12 seconds. Then IBM decided to continue improving that device. As a result, the first digital computing machine was introduced in Toronto. In 1957, a team of IBM developers created a computer disk storage system and a computer language based on algebra, grammar and rules of syntax. It soon became one of the most widely used computer languages in the world.
For the next few years, the company was aimed at adopting new integrated solutions in order to change the range of information products. When the Internet became an integral part of any business, IBM managed to achieve success again in the second half of the 90s. The company became one of the first in Toronto to produce modern gadgets — computers. They were developed and successfully released thanks to previously created computing machines. One of the first computer developers in Toronto was Steve Mann, who created the microprocessor and information systems for the efficient use of those devices.
The first such computing device was released in 1981. It was designed to solve scientific and engineering tasks, automating the process of analysis and calculation as well as saving a large amount of data. Then computers became an integral part of manufacturing, economics, transportation and other areas of life in Toronto.
Compared to modern computers, those devices were bigger, had wide keys, a memory card of several megabytes, a magnetic tape drive, etc. If you wanted to connect a printer, you had to buy a parallel port adapter, and a serial port adapter to connect a modem. In the following years, the first computers began to be improved and released under different brands.
Interesting facts about the IBM computer company
- IBM is a global computer company specialising in the recording, processing, transmission, storage and search of information.
- IBM Toronto has the largest team of software professionals. The company’s offices with software development laboratories are also located in London, Ottawa, Montreal, Edmonton and Vancouver.
- The production of IBM computers takes place in the largest factory in Canada, which employs more than 2,800 people.
- It is the only facility in North America where development is conducted for all five major IBM software brands.
- The computer company has the largest software labs in Canada. They are also the third largest ones in the world!
