How IBM sustains the leading edge

Abstract

The reasons for the leading edge that IBM has been able to sustain are discussed. It is the company's focus on the marketplace that has sparked excellence in its science and produced a remarkable string of scientific firsts in physics. Talents for mechanical design rather than formal academic training characterized the innovators of the electromechanical machines. To match the speed of electronics, IBM developed fast random-access memories (RAM), which were based on ferrite cores. The potential of carbon nanotube transistors is being explored for applications in information processing and storage.