America 1919

Next to Donnie's couch, there was a small coffee table, on which various tools were placed... hmm, for interacting with female dancers, and there was also a small stage in front of Donnie's couch. Moreover, there was a separate bedroom here. John had truly turned this place into a world of its own! As the lights dimmed, all spotlights converged onto the centre of the main stage, where a bathtub slowly rose up, surrounded by swirls of smoke, a female dancer in a suit appeared on the stage, but most attractive of all was Mansfield, slowly revealing herself from the bathtub like a Venus... ...many, many words are omitted here... "Indeed, primal impulses are always the most likely to drive people crazy!" Donnie walked out of the nightclub, the chill of the late-night breeze made him feel a bit cold... or it might have been due to the sweat on his body. As Donnie was preparing to get into a car to leave, a deep voice came from behind him. "Mr. Block!" Donnie turned around, and a man in his forties with silver hair and wearing a suit called out to him. The man had also come out of John's club, but Donnie had no recollection of him, only feeling that this man looked somewhat familiar, but Donnie was certain he had never seen him before! By this time Steve Cotting had already positioned himself in front of Donnie. Donnie patted Steve Cotting on the shoulder to signal him to step aside, believing that anyone who could come here for the opening of John's club today must be someone of status, and Donnie didn't think the man would cause any trouble for him. "And you are?" Donnie asked. The other man introduced himself politely, smiling: "Mr. Block, it's a pleasure to meet you, I am Thomas Watson, the general manager of CTR!" With those words, the man extended his hand to Donnie. At this moment, Donnie realized who the man was, the founder of what would become this century's largest global technology company, IBM. As for CTR, that was actually the predecessor of IBM. If Donnie's memory served him correctly, Thomas Watson had not yet officially taken over the reins of CTR from Flint. CTR was not founded by Thomas Watson, but by Wall Street banker Flint. As for Thomas Watson, rumors suggested that he was born into meager circumstances, and thus at the age of 17, to reduce the burden on his family, he dropped out of school and worked as a salesman in a hardware store. In 1896, Thomas Watson joined the National Cash Register Company in the United States as a salesman. This company was a legendary sales company in the United States, and Watson learned a lot there. By 1899, he had become a branch manager. Eleven years later, he rose to the number two figure in the company. However, just as he seemed to be reaching the pinnacle of his career, he faced the biggest bottleneck of his life. Due to an internal power struggle, he was ousted by the company. At that time, being over 40, it seemed difficult for him to have a chance to turn things around. It was then that Wall Street banker Flint offered Thomas Watson an olive branch, inviting him to join his company, CTR! At that time, the company was manufacturing cleavers, scales, and tabulating machines, and with no other options, Thomas Watson became a manager there. After joining the company, Thomas Watson suggested to Flint that they should focus on tabulating machines, believing that automated machines had broad prospects for the future. Flint accepted Thomas Watson's suggestion, which brought substantial profits to CTR. After the war, every major company increased their demand for tabulating machines, and Watson's career reached its peak, releasing a new line of products. In 1919, the company's revenue hit 13 million US dollars, with profits exceeding 2.1 million US dollars. It was also at that time that Thomas Watson became the general manager of CTR. If nothing unexpected happened, Thomas Watson would formally take over the flagship of CTR from Flint in 1924 and become the president of CTR, renaming it IBM! So, why was this sales genius, who had some fame across the United States, giving up the ongoing performance inside to come out and meet with him? "So it's Mr. Watson. I remember that our company has already purchased tabulating machines from your company, haven't we?" Donnie thought the other party was here to make a sale. In 1880, the United States began its 10th population census, which, without the aid of modern machinery, took a full 10 years to complete. Such a situation was clearly unacceptable to the U.S. Government. Therefore, the Census Office decided to issue an open call to society, seeking inventions that could reduce manual labor and improve statistical efficiency. This call presented an opportunity to Herman Hollerith, a young Columbia University graduate who, after seeing the tender, brought his 1884 patent to the forefront out of many proposals. And the machine he invented was the tabulating machine! As the name suggests, the tabulating machine is a device specifically designed to create statistical tables. It mainly consists of a display mechanism, a punch card machine, a card reader, and a sorting box. The display mechanism includes four rows and ten columns, totaling 40 display dials, each dial evenly divided into 100 sections, equipped with two pointers, similar to a clock. The "minute hand" rotates once to count 100, and the "hour hand" rotates once to count 10,000; it's clear to see, the entire display mechanism can represent vast amounts of data.