Former IBM CEO Frank T. Cary Dies - Technology Evangelist

Today I received the sad news (by press release) of Frank Cary?��Ǩ�Ѣs passing. It is a sad announcement for me because I remember him well from his time as Chairman of IBM.

He was Chairman from 1973 to 1981. During this time I had the occasion to meet with him regarding product announcements that I was responsible for. He was a great leader with a keen sense of the future.

Perhaps his most important legacy was the IBM PC. As early as 1978 he was asking for an IBM product that could respond to the emerging ?��Ǩ?�hobby?��Ǩ�� type computers. He was sure that before too long these little machines would become a threat to IBM. The mainframe bureaucracy was resistant to such a notion and nothing happened until 1980 when he edicted the formation of a development group in Boca Raton that would report directly to him thereby avoiding the bureaucracy and giving the team free reign to use whatever technology made sense. One year later the IBM PC emerged and legitimized the market for personal computers.

Frank T. Cary will be missed.

Comments

1. Posted by: Roald Marth on January 6, 2006 12:11 AM:

Thank you for this fitting tribute. With all the excitement at CES this year, none of it would have been possible without the support of this man.

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