The Maverick and His Machine: Thomas Watson, Sr. and the Making of IBM

Book Description

The first complete look at one of America's legendary business leaders

This groundbreaking biography by Kevin Maney, acclaimed technology columnist for USA Today, offers fresh insight and new information on one of the twentieth century's greatest business figures. Over the course of forty-two years, Thomas J. Watson took a failing business called The Computer-Tabulating-Recording Company and transformed it into IBM, the world's first and most famous high-tech company. The Maverick and His Machine is the first modern biography of this business titan. Maney secured exclusive access to hundreds of boxes of Watson's long-forgotten papers, and he has produced the only complete picture of Watson the man and Watson the legendary business leader. These uncovered documents reveal new information about how Watson bet the company in the 1920s on tabulating machines-the forerunners to computers-and how he daringly beat the Great Depression of the 1930s. The documents also lead to new insights concerning the controversy that has followed Watson: his suppos ed coll usion with Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime.

Maney paints a vivid portrait of Watson, uncovers his motivations, and offers needed context on his mammoth role in the course of modern business history. Jim Collins, author of the bestsellers Good to Great and Built to Last, writes in the Foreword to Maney's book: "Leaders like Watson are like forces of nature-almost terrifying in their release of energy and unpredictable volatility, but underneath they still adhere to certain patterns and principles. The patterns and principles might be hard to see amidst the melee, but they are there nonetheless. It takes a gifted person of insight to highlight those patterns, and that is exactly what Kevin Maney does in this book."

The Maverick and His Machine also includes never-before-published photos of Watson from IBM's archives, showing Watson in greater detail than any book ever has before. Essential reading for every businessperson, tech junkie, and IBM follower, the book is also full of the kind of personal detail and reconstructed events that make it a page-turning story for general readers. The Maverick and the Machine is poised to be one of the most important business biographies in years.

Kevin Maney is a nationally syndicated, award-winning technology columnist at USA Today, where he has been since 1985. He is a cover story writer whose story about IBM's bet-the-company move gained him national recognition. He was voted best technology columnist by the business journalism publication TJFR. Marketing Computers magazine has four times named him one of the most influential technology columnists. He is the author of Wiley's MEGAMEDIA SHAKEOUT: The Inside Story of the Leaders and the Losers in the Exploding Communications Industry, which was a Business Week Bestseller.
Residence: Clifton, VA.

"Watson was clearly a genius with a thousand helpers, yet he managed to build an institution that could transcend the genius."
-from the Foreword by Jim Collins

"Like all great biographers, Kevin Maney gives us an engaging story. . .his fascinating and definitive book about IBM's founder is replete with amazing revelations and character lessons that resonate today."
-Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Harvard Business School, bestselling author of Evolve! and When Giants Learn to Dance

Customer Reviews:

A good read.......2006-12-29

Before I get to the review, let me say that this book gets a 10 for content. It gets only a 2 for style.

I was drawn to this book shortly after reading Lou Gerstner's "Who Says Elephants Can't Dance" (truly an excellent book, esp since it was written without a ghost writer), who makes many references to the old IBM. This book certainly paints the complete picture of what old IBM was.

Manney begins by talking about Watson's upbringing, then draws you into his times at NCR and quick rise to the top. He makes many pauses to describe the nature of character of the folks that would become major influences on Watson's business sense. He even throws in a few amusing anecdotes along the way. Then he dives into the incitement and the flood that would convince Watson of true value of integrity.

The first chapter or so on C-T-R, how Watson got the job, started off and some initial challenges are good. Then the book goes into non-linear time line and starts to loose you. For instance, Maney divides chapters into sections. One section could end in 1934 talking about Watson's big break, the next would be a personal anecdote from 1920s, the next would start off in 1917 and talk about events that lead to Watson nearly bankrupting the company. The next chapter would be a repeat, and you would again seemingly randomly jump from 1930s to 20s for no apparent reason. I found myself going back and forth many times trying to figure out how this even in '34 relates to the other event in '34 five pages ago.

Still, if you are a fan of start-from-nothing-climb-to-the-top stories, this is an absolute must read. Maney captures the essence of Watson, like very few authors could. He gives a balanced view of his personal and public lives, and most importantly, he understands that IBM's success was dependent on many people, not just Watson and so he gives them a significant amount of screen time as well.

A critique of Watson senior by Kevin Maney.......2006-01-06

This book is generally pretty good, as evidenced by my 4 stars I quite enjoyed it. There is a lot of insight into what the biographer believes Tom Watson was, and I put it that way because there is a lot of interpolation by the author on what the goings on were around the company. It's an enjoyable read, but very repetitive and you can tell by the writing that it is written by someone not accustomed to writing books (the writer is a journalist). It lapses in and out of formal and informal narrative, repeats itself constantly, the author has a particular fondness for describing Watson's diatribes as "cuttingly" (which is a word?).

In any case this is the first book I've read about either of the Tom Watson's and IBM and I assume that it has done a good job of dispelling some of the myths of other books which were written about him. It's an intriguing book because the subject was so utterly obsessed and consumed by his company and his outrageous luck and "bet the farm" gambles.

Good read, I recommend it but I don't think is top class.

Highly Recommended!.......2003-10-16

This book seems to have been written primarily because the author learned about the existence of boxes of Thomas Watson's papers that had never been read by any biographer or journalist. In some cases, the author's access to these new materials does help fill in some minor gaps in the existing accounts of Watson's life. And cumulatively, they take some of the shine off the legend, impressing upon one how humdrum the daily life of even a business titan must be. This book is reasonably well written and packed with memorable anecdotes. While it doesn't offer stunning new insights, we commend it as a readable, accessible and balanced introduction to one of the greatest executives of the twentieth century.

The Story of a Leader.......2003-07-24

All great stories have a good guy and a bad guy. In this story, it's the same guy. Thomas Watson, Sr., by sheer force of personality, created IBM.

The best part of this book is the IBM songs at the end of every chapter. They are hillarious, but probably no more so than some of the silly cheers dot.coms used to pump up their employees.

But back to the story: Mr. Watson created the first tech growth company of the 20th century. Mr. Maney had unbelievable access to Mr. Watson's personal notes and correspondence as the primary resource to tell how he created IBM. Some of the details about meetings, drawn from the transcribed minutes, give an eerie "you are there" quality to the book. One feels almost as terrorized as the executives in those meetings.

In reading the book, one gets the clear message that Mr. Maney would have really liked to have met Mr. Watson. He truly admires his subject while at the same time showing warts and all. This is not a soft treatment of Mr. Watson. Yet, you can almost hear Mr. Maney saying between the lines, "I just wish I could have met that old S.O.B."

This book holds great detail but is an easy read. Mr. Maney's style covers the point without belaboring it. The book is often funny, sometimes sad but never disappointing.

A classic.......2003-07-23

If IBM and computers are synonymous, so are Watson and IBM. Whatever the criticisms and the controversies surrounding the 3 magical alphabets in blue, IBM is IBM. To build such a company from ground up, offering solutions to business and scientific computing and thereby acting as the catalyst for the process of economic progress during the most part of the twentieth century is by no means an ordinary feat. That was exactly the material Thomas Watson Sr was made of. Watson has done his job and done it well and now Kevin Maney completes the rest by bringing this story in a truly remarkable manner to our bookshelves.

It is difficult not to fall in love with Watson Sr and his beloved company even half way through the book. From his humble beginnings to the misfortune at NCR, for nearly forty years Watson Sr is just another story of struggles, ups and downs. But to him, life just begins at forty with his job at CTR and of course the birth of Tom Watson Jr. The birth of IBM and its growth under the paternalistic care of Watson Sr through depressions, wars, booms and uncertainties gets a lion's share of coverage in this book. Watson Sr took big business risks bordering on a propensity to gamble, pushing IBM into higher orbits. Luck is the word the author takes recourse to while describing these successes.

The next logical part of the book deals with the succession plan at IBM that is a story by itself. Father, Son and Co by Tom Jr is widely quoted in these pages. The father's affection for his sons Tom Jr and Dick, his struggle to reconcile their differences and the frequent fights with Tom Jr are very close to what Tom Jr himself has described in his book.

The chapters on transformation of IBM into the era of electronics under Tom Jr and the trust suit that had a severe personal impact on Watson Sr deserve commendation.

While reading the pages where the old man bids goodbye to IBM and to this world, I stood up in salute to this great man.

Book Description

Ricky Williams: Dreadlocks to Ditka is the first book about college football's Heisman Trophy winner and the first-round draft pick of Coach Mike Ditka's New Orleans Saints. Ditka coveted 1998's Heisman Trophy winner so much that he traded all of the Saints' 1999 draft picks for the right to choose the former University of Texas star. From his prep days in San Diego as an all-sports star to his record-breaking career with the Longhorns, Williams has had to overcome personal obstacles his entire life. He's done so, however, with grace, class, and style, even though his trademark dreadlocks and pierced tongue may present a different persona. Ditka proclaimed Williams the National Football League's next superstar.

Customer Reviews:

Richardson's book a brilliant look at a mysterious person.......2000-05-15

This book combines two of the most sought-after items in a biography. First, in Williams, you have an intriguing, mysterious figure who not many people have much information on. Yes, he won the Heisman trophy and he is, publically, seen as a good person.

What Richardson, the most respected college sports writer in the country, is able to do is look beyond the public perception and give readers a sense of what makes Williams tick and why Williams ticks the way he does.

This book sets the stage for Williams in New Orleans. It is set before Williams' rookie year with the Saints and controversial coach Mike Ditka. After reading this book, you'll understand why Williams had the turbulent year and subsequent problems.

Through a network of what seem to be unparalled contacts, Richardson is able to gain an insight on Williams the college player that has never before been exposed. He sets the table for Williams' rookie year. Much of the book explains how Williams was handled in college at Texas and why his transition to the real world has been so difficult.

In short, this book is a must for any pro football fan. On a grand scale, it is much more than a work about Ricky Williams and the Saints. It chronicles the reasons college players have such a difficult time making the trasition to the professional level and explains why football is only part of that equation.

Average customer rating:

Outstanding, but an update is overdue!

OK if you ignore obsolecence

Must have for Star Trek fans

Good, but...

In desperate need of review!!

Star Trek Encyclopedia 3.0 Hybrid
Ssi
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: CD-ROM
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The Physics of Star Trek

ASIN: 0671317563

Amazon.com

This new version of the Star Trek Encyclopedia is a reissue of the 1997 edition, plus a 128-page supplement of additional material that updates Deep Space Nine to the end of its run and Voyager to midway through season five. It also covers the movie Star Trek: Insurrection. The supplement is as meticulously detailed as the rest of the volume, listing such fascinating trivia as chadre kab (Seven of Nine's first meal), 'Kahless and Lukara' (a Klingon opera), and voraxna (a Cardassian poison), as well as all the new characters and species. Appendices include illustrations of starships, cast and crew listings, a historical timeline, and a bibliography. All photographs and illustrations (except for a few historical shots) are in color. The encyclopedia was devised in part to help production staff on the various Star Trek TV series to keep up with the ever-increasing level of detail generated by over 30 years of creative effort. It is an excellent reference volume and, whether you want to settle an argument or write a novel, this book will answer your questions. But beware: the extensive cross-referencing leads to curious time-distortion effects, in which the unwary reader, dipping in to settle a single query, encounters an irresistible urge to browse further, during which hours of normal time can pass in the wink of an eye. --Elizabeth Sourbut

Book Description

For more than 30 years, the phenomenon known as Star Trek ® has captivated the public's imagination. With four hit television series and nine film epics, Gene Roddenberry's hopeful vision of a brighter tomorrow continues to evolve.

Now, Star Trek® fans and followers can navigate the wealth of information from this expanding expanding universe with THE STAR TREK® ENCYCLOPEDIA VERSION 3.0, the ultimate interactive guide to Roddenberry's masterpiece. Picking up where it's predecessor, The Star Trek Encyclopedia, left off, Version 3.0 gives you even more of what made the Encyclopedia the indispensable resource no Trek fan should be without!

The STAR TREK® Encyclopedia Version 3.0 brings you comprehensive entries from:

STAR TREK®, The Original Series (all seasons)

STAR TREK: The Next Generation® (all seasons)

STAR TREK: Deep Space Nine® (up to Season 7)

STAR TREK: Voyager® (up to Season 5)

The Feature Films (From THE MOTION PICTURE to INSURRECTION)

More than 2500 still photos and drawings, over 250 video and audio clips, all updated with a plethora of new material for this edition!

Encyclopedia 3.0 is presented in a magazine-style interface divided into easy-to-use modes:
ENCYCLOPEDIA -- the alphabetically-listed and hot-linked reference guide on all things Trek!
RESOURCES -- with updated graphs, charts, and illustration spreads that bring to life such details as food, alien races, ships and more!
EPISODE LISTINGS -- with plot summaries and writer, director, actor, and other creative credits!
CHRONOLOGY -- Lists the events of Star Trek's history in order of stardates!

With The STAR TREK® ENCYCLOPEDIA VERSION 3.0, you're just a click away from the latest developments in the Star Trek saga -- everything from the Dominion War (Deep Space Nine) to the exploits of Seven of Nine (Voyager) to Picard's Insurrection!

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Windows®:

Win 95/98

Pentium 90 or higher

16 MB free ram

35 MB hard disk space

16-bit.color

2X CD-ROM drive, 4X recommended
Macintosh®:

PowerPC

System 7.5 or above

16 MB free ram

35 MB hard disk space

Thousands of colors

2x CD-ROM drive, 4x Recommended

Customer Reviews:

Outstanding, but an update is overdue!.......2007-06-17

I bought this book in 2003, and it covered most of the bases then, but only the movies through 1998 ("Insurrection" IIRC; "Nemesis" is not covered.), and the 5th season of Voyager. It just covered the last season of DS9. And of course it has none of the "Enterprise" series.

There have also been events such as the Paramount auction of all the series and movie paraphernalia since then, and that could be a chapter all by itself.

I came on Amazon today expecting to see a new and updated version for sale, and was disappointed that the old edition is still all that's available.

Michael and Denise Okuda know everything there is to know about ST, and are the perfect people to update this. If I were shopping today for the first time I would say wait for the new edition, but buy a used paperback 1999 just to see what it's all about.

Keeping my fingers crossed that someone sees the demand for an updated version!

OK if you ignore obsolecence.......2007-04-19

Nothing on the end of Voyager's Delta Quadrant wanderings? Nothing on Enterprise's backstory additions and newly-created anachronisms? Both this book and the related Star Trek Chronology need serious revamping. I appreciate the Okuda's insider Trekker style, but this reeks of willful blindness!

Must have for Star Trek fans.......2007-03-04

The COMPLETE encyclopedia of Star Trek info. A must for those fans who want to ensure an exhaustive Star Trek knowledge base.

Good, but..........2007-02-08

Hi! I am from Italy. I have bought "Star Trek Encyclopedia" and I like it very much, but this book stops at 1999: it is not updated whith last Voyager's seasons (fifth, sixth and seventh), the whole Enterprise's cycle and "Star Trek: Nemesis".

In desperate need of review!!.......2006-10-03

1999? It's 2006!! Come on, folks!! Excellent book that needs an update!!

Book Description

If the modern world is crumbling, then magic is what's growing up between the cracks. In Generation Hex, editor Jason Louv assembles a collection of dispatches from the edge-a generation of young adults who are inventing and imagining radically new directions for spirituality and human evolution.

Arising from the magical and occult underground of the early twenty-first century, the authors, artists, thinkers, and magicians assembled in Generation Hex collectively point the way to a future in which fanaticism and dogma have disappeared, in which human beings are free to realize their own destinies, and where the theory and practical applications of magic-the psychic ability of all human beings to engage and participate with the creative energy of the universe itself--saturate and regenerate this troubled planet.

Through critical essays and practical demonstrations of how a positive interaction with the occult, esoteric, and psychic undercurrents of human life can radically alter one's existence, the young magicians collected here provide a collective snapshot of a dramatically new way forward for global culture as it emerges from the fringes and into the mainstream, from counterculture to ultraculture.

Generation Hex offers the reader an excursion into the lives and practices of real-life Harry Potters, young men and women who practice real magic, here stripped of its sinister trappings and revealed to be what it truly is-the key to human evolution. Generation Hex provides a blueprint for escaping the suicidal rut of modern life and the radical redesign of the very essence of what it means to be human.

Jason Louv is a New York-based writer and editor. He has spent the last six years researching and practicing magic, being initiated into various questionable secret societies, traveling around the Near East, and learning how to cloud minds. This is his first book.

Customer Reviews:

Wow, what a groovy collection!.......2006-08-17

Generation Hex gives any reader an insightful slice of the personal journeys of the 14 individual contributers. While each of us has own own path to follow, the glimpse into others experiences is always an interesting view. Highly reccomended.

Durk Simmons author Strings of Connection Book One of the Witches in America Series

Post-Chaos Magic(k).......2005-12-22

As a kind of post-chaos magic text this book works well. Stephen Grasso's essays in particular are oustanding, documenting the dynamic progession of someone from within the chaos scene towards something both more pragmatically effective and personally fulfilling.

That being said, there is an equal amount of nonsense in GH. Practically every essay contains a reference to drug use as a magical tool. There's no doubt certain substances have their place in occult works, but if you read this book cold you'd tend to think they were necessary - no thanks!

Jason Louv clearly has some very noble ideals - much required in present occulture - however, there is an obvious question mark over some of the contributors in this text and their ability to inspire the next generation.

All things considered, this is a book that should be part of the contemporary magician's library, if only as a reference point to the real 'movers and shakers' in the selected reading section. Not that there isn't some vibrant magical creatures in this book - there are - but this tends to be balanced by the odd delusionary LSD tract expressing some ill-defined magical endowment.

I seriously look forward to the release of Grasso's forthcoming book.

Inspiration in difficult times.......2005-11-23

If you're looking for a book with a mind shattering new magical paradigm, this is not that book. It is also not a handbook for beginning magicians. This is the book you're looking for if you're a magician in need of fresh inspiration in a bleak and self-destructive society.

If you've established a magical practice but are wondering "OK, I'm a magician, now what?" or feel there's just "something" missing from your practice, this book is for you. If these essays have an overarching theme, it's what it feels like to be a magician.

One of the criticisms leveled at this book is that there is a lack of diversity in voices. I have to agree. Despite many of the contributors saying "I'm not a chaos magician," most of the essays in this book come from a Western, chaos-influenced perspective. The majority of the contributors are male, and all but one lives in North America.

The problem with anthologies is always consistency. There were a few articles that I just did not like. But Stephen Grasso's essays, and Chris Arkenberg's article "My Love War with Fox News" are worth the price of admission on their own.

I'm hesitant to recommend this book to beginners, though I think with some work even the most basic beginner would take something away from this book. I recommend this book to all practicing magicians. Even if you think your practice is fine the way it is, I suspect you'll find something of value in this collection.

Finally!.......2005-11-20

Finally, a book about magic from someone other than the usual suspects, saying something other than the usual. My only complaint is that the book is sometimes difficult to read because I find myself stopping after individual essays to go for long walks and digest. Some essays, I find myself stopping after almost every sentence to think about what I've just read. I particularly like Louv's writing and ideas; there's a deep-down freshness to his writing and "oh gosh!" enthusiasm that I can't stop loving.

Possibly the beginning of a shared legacy........2005-11-17

If you read this book, chances are you'll pick up an idea of what Magick is, and how you can apply it to your life.

But from my perspective, as a contributor to the project, it's not really a "how to" book. This is instead a snapshot, a cultural tapestry that spotlights what it is to come into awareness outside a commonly accepted domain. In other words, this is what happens when a generation goes "what the f***?" and isn't satisfied by any of the answers provided. So they plumb deeper, and deeper. Magick is simply a system of looking at and working with reality both open and skeptical enough to allow this process to take place.

I can't say what the end of this story is, as I said this is a snapshot and it's unclear at this point whether "we" are converging or travelling off in various interesting configurations.

However for anyone that is interested in picking up the pen, wand, or guitar to change their world (and through that, THE world), this book is a must read.

Average customer rating:

Generation Hex #1 (Amalgam)
Peter Milligan
Manufacturer: DC Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Comic
ASIN: B000ILIAD0

Product Description

Direct sales edition comic book published by DC Comics under the Amalgam imprint. Amalgam is a unique series that combines elements from both the Marvel & DC Universes. This title combines DC's Jonah Hex with Marvel's Generation X.

Average customer rating:
USA Crosswords #36 (USA Crosswords)
Charles Preston
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Humor, Comics & Pop Culture | Bargain Books | Stores | Books
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ASIN: B000IOERNE

Book Description

An exciting new collection in Perigee's ever-popular series-from one of America's foremost crossword experts.

Average customer rating:

The new edition is better than the previous two

Absolutely Terrific Introduction into Bankruptcy Investing

Fabulous book

Very poor content and presentation

It's Time for an Update

Bankruptcy Investing: How to Profit from Distressed Companies (2nd Edition)
Ben Branch , and Hugh Ray
Manufacturer: Beard Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Creating Value Through Corporate Restructuring: Case Studies in Bankruptcies, Buyouts, and Breakups

Distressed Securities: Analyzing and Evaluating Market Potential and Investment Risk

ASIN: 1587981211

Book Description

Experts present a guide through the risky but lucrative investment opportunities available in troubled companies.

Customer Reviews:

The new edition is better than the previous two.......2004-09-07

These guys have provided the new update that was needed. I made money on the first edition, but there have been some changes and they have covered them. Morgan came out with a report saying pretty much the same thing a couple of months back.It would be hard to lose money if you take the book's advice per the report. This book really gets you through the technical stuff with ease. Money well spent.

Absolutely Terrific Introduction into Bankruptcy Investing.......2002-09-05

Great introduction and overview of the world of distressed and bankruptcy investing. The authors managed to synthesize a very complicated subject into an easy-to-read and understandible book. Of course no one book can cover the entire subject in detail, but this one comes amazingly close. Highly recommended.

Fabulous book.......2002-07-20

This book has everything I needed to make money in this market. They do need to update their data and bring it forward, but the analysis is first rate and the methodology was very new to me although quite understandable in plain english for someone without a law degree or an mba. I now understand what is going on here and I can see how the vulture investors get the large returns. I reread the first part after several months of buying and it all still held together. Interesting and moneymaking as well.

Very poor content and presentation.......2002-03-18

I was really disappointed with this book, particularly given that it was written by seasoned bankruptcy experts. The book is very skinny on content - it spends about 30 pages on bankruptcy law and its procedures, a few on case studies that are superficial/poorly written and several on bond analysis, and standard research tools that are well-known to a person with basic financial knowledge, ie the sort of people who would be interested in something relatively exotic as Bankruptcy Investing. The few useful pages that there are are marred by poor writing, and a complete absence of analytical frameworks that stay with the reader.

Bankruptcy is a complex topic and there is a need for a book of the sort Branch and Ray have attempted. However, this is most certainly not that book.

It's Time for an Update.......2002-03-08

This book provides a decent overview of the restructuring world and bond market, although a little too basic. I was expecting more of a focus on the puruchase of deeply discounted high-yield bonds and bank debt. Additionally, the book was extremely outdated. LTV has already filed Chapter 11 Bankruptcy for its second time, and we have something called the internet to help with our research.

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