Word: ibm
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Fighting back is a decidedly unaccustomed role for IBM. Other companies have to do it all the time, of course, but the Colossus of Armonk (N.Y.) is different. Overwhelmingly dominant in its industry for decades, IBM is used to swatting aside small rivals -- and they're all small by comparison -- with a brush of its hand. Now things have changed...
Last week was worse than most. With AT&T acquiring the computer maker NCR (for $7.4 billion), what had been little more than a bothersome competitor was suddenly part of a company as big as IBM. A new survey of customer satisfaction among business users of personal computers showed IBM out of the running, somewhere below 10th place and below average, its exact ranking not disclosed by the pollsters. Its stock is skidding along near a nine-month low. And at week's end, to underscore that the company is going through one of its toughest times in memory...
Their shape may turn out to be a structural achievement that on the molecular level is as noteworthy as the keystone arch. "This molecule," says IBM physicist Donald Bethune, "looks like something some genius engineer sat down and designed." In essence, a buckyball forms a cage that begs to be filled. By placing different atoms inside the cage, scientists should be able to engineer materials with unique electronic, catalytic and even biomedical properties. One intriguing possibility: if they prove nontoxic, buckyballs might encapsulate radioactive atoms used in cancer therapy, serving as shields that protect normal tissue from damage...
When he writes, O'Rourke retreats to a third-floor hideaway in his New Hampshire home. It's a manly place, replete with fireplace, dark wood paneling and mementos of his world travels scattered about. He shows no interest in computers, choosing instead to hammer away on an IBM electric typewriter. Up close, O'Rourke, like many funny writers, comes across as a fairly normal guy. He holds doors open for women, he likes kids, and he's proud of a tangy hors d'oeuvre he fashions from sliced cucumbers, black pepper and the cheapest vinegar...
...When subscribers to Prodigy, a 700,000-member information system owned by Sears and IBM, began posting messages protesting a rate hike, Prodigy officials banned discussion of the topic in public forums on the system. After protesters began sending private mail messages to other members -- and to advertisers -- they were summarily kicked off the network...