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The Romance Division - A Different Side of IBM Hardcover – January 1, 1991
Purchase options and add-ons
- Length
0
Pages
- Language
EN
English
- PublisherVantage Pr
- Publication date
1991
January 1
- ISBN-100533090849
- ISBN-13978-0533090846
Product details
- Publisher : Vantage Pr; 1st ed edition (January 1, 1991)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 0 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0533090849
- ISBN-13 : 978-0533090846
- Item Weight : 1.85 pounds
- Best Sellers Rank: #5,436,222 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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There is a fair amount of reference to individual personalities through the book, so for those outside the company or the OP division these names may mean little but the anecdotal stories are still an enjoyable read. I would doubt that anyone with even a passing interest in either the IBM company, or IBM typewriters would not learn something new from reading this book.
I did find one puzzling omission from the book which is the lack of reference in any form to the eventual success of the IBM Wheelwriter range. The first of those products was released around 1984 while the Selectric III was still in production and they were firmly established with advanced models by the time this book was published in 1991 (co-incidentally the same year Lexmark was formed).
Had these successful Wheelwriter products been released just 5 years earlier instead of the ill-fated 'Electronic Typewriter', IBM may well have retained a much greater market share that was otherwise lost to competitors. The only reason I can think for these products to be omitted is that they came along after OPD officially ceased to exist as a distinct organization in it's own right and this book was written to cover that division alone.
I would loved to have read about those final years of the modern typewriters written in the style of the rest of the book. Perhaps another 'insider' can write a sequel. But all that aside, it's a great read and I highly recommend it (if you can find one)
IBM's management (all facets) were exclusively at fault for the divisions failure. Their ranks were increasingly filled by good "political" soldiers who went along with the corporate line, and were increasingly seen as "empty suits" (a common IBM term at the time.). The authors of this book, while certainly capable at a certain level, were to close to the IBM management team - in fact were among them. Their "criticism" of management at the time showed they were not willing to put blame on their "friends" as part of the problem. That is understandable, but because of that the book lacked objectivity, and did not point out many of the failure points of the "Romance Division" OPD (Office Product Division).
The late Connie DeLoca held many key product management posts. Co-author Sam Kalow started as "Mr. Dictation Equipment," when IBM entered that field in 1960; later he managed Office Systems for IBM and lectured on office automation. They certainly qualify as authoritative, experienced chroniclers.
The authors predicted in 1991 that voice-activated computers would eventually produce documents. But despite all the technological innovations since then, printed words still seem to be based on input through a keyboard -- which keeps getting smaller and smaller.
