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Computer Visionary Diebold Dies at 79
Excite News/AP ^ | 27 December 2005 | LARRY McSHANE

Posted on 12/28/2005 8:35:37 AM PST by ShadowAce

NEW YORK (AP) - John Diebold, a business visionary who preached computerization during the era of Elvis and Eisenhower as the future of worldwide industry, has died at the age of 79.

Diebold died of esophageal cancer Monday at his home in suburban Bedford Hills, said a nephew, John B. Diebold

Although Diebold is now hailed as a prophet of the computerized future, his zeal for computers was not widely shared in the 1950s.

After graduating from the Harvard Business School in 1951, he was hired by a New York management consulting firm and was fired three times for insisting that clients consider computerizing.

"I was too early," he once said. "It was before the first computer was installed for business use."

Diebold laid out his vision of a computerized future with his 1952 book, "Automation," which presented the then-radical notion of using programmable devices in daily business.

The influential book was reissued on the 30th and 40th anniversaries of its publication.

His vision of the future was conceived while serving in the Merchant Marine during World War II. He watched the ship's anti-aircraft fire control system, with its crude self-correcting mechanisms, and envisioned adapting the technology for business use.

In 1954, Diebold launched his consulting firm John Diebold & Associates. Coincidentally, that was the same year General Electric unveiled the first full-scale computer system for a business.

Over the next half-century, his firm, which had no connection to electronic equipment company Diebold Inc. (DBD), provided advice to AT&T, IBM, Boeing and Xerox, along with the cities of Chicago and New York and the countries of Venezuela and Jordan.

In 1961 his firm created an electronic network for the Bowery Savings Bank in New York that allowed immediate updates of all transactions, allowing customers to bank at any branch. His company also developed a network that changed the way hospitals keep records, medical records and statistics to be collected electronically.

Some of his ideas took time to reach fruition. In 1963, Diebold presented newspaper executives with a plan to use keyboards for entering stories that could be edited on computer consoles - a system that did not became standard until years later.

In addition to his nephew, Diebold is survived by his wife, Vanessa, along with a daughter and a son.


TOPICS: Technical
KEYWORDS: automation; computers; diebold; hero; johndiebold; obituary
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1 posted on 12/28/2005 8:35:38 AM PST by ShadowAce
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To: rdb3; chance33_98; Calvinist_Dark_Lord; Bush2000; PenguinWry; GodGunsandGuts; CyberCowboy777; ...

2 posted on 12/28/2005 8:35:54 AM PST by ShadowAce (Linux -- The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
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To: ShadowAce

I think that everyone should convery their condolences for the master of deception who stole the election for Bush in 2004. I would really want to get more hatemail from the garbage at DU.


3 posted on 12/28/2005 8:39:32 AM PST by KC_Conspirator
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To: ShadowAce

I wonder if computers will ever be useful in business ...


4 posted on 12/28/2005 8:39:45 AM PST by IronJack
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To: ShadowAce
The denizens of DUmmieLand will be beside themselves with joy to hear this.

"If I wasn't an atheist,I'd swear that this is God's revenge" will be the mantra there as they spit their venom at all of the "conspirators" that stole the Presidential elections of '52,'56,'68,'72,'80,'84,'88,2000 and 2004!

5 posted on 12/28/2005 8:40:35 AM PST by Gay State Conservative
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To: zot; Interesting Times; SeraphimApprentice

Ping for computer mourning.


6 posted on 12/28/2005 8:40:58 AM PST by GreyFriar ((3rd Armored Division -- Spearhead))
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To: KC_Conspirator

Not the same Diebold.


7 posted on 12/28/2005 8:41:20 AM PST by CaptRon (Pedecaris alive or Raisuli dead)
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To: ShadowAce

Diebold is having some trouble with its voting machines.


8 posted on 12/28/2005 8:42:08 AM PST by RightWhale (pas de lieu, Rhone que nous)
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To: Gay State Conservative; RightWhale
Wrong Diebold. From the article:
which had no connection to electronic equipment company Diebold Inc.

9 posted on 12/28/2005 8:44:12 AM PST by ShadowAce (Linux -- The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
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To: Gay State Conservative
Over the next half-century, his firm, which had no connection to electronic equipment company Diebold Inc. (DBD) . . .
10 posted on 12/28/2005 8:44:15 AM PST by LdSentinal
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To: ShadowAce
Diebold? Hey, isn't this the guy whose machines we used to steal the vote and win the last election? And I'm sure it was he himself who gave us the info that allowed us to accomplish this.

SH*T!! What are we gonna do NOW!!
11 posted on 12/28/2005 8:46:50 AM PST by Eagles Talon IV
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To: ShadowAce

Okay. Always room for a new line in the general outline of the nature of reality.


12 posted on 12/28/2005 8:47:57 AM PST by RightWhale (pas de lieu, Rhone que nous)
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To: ShadowAce

Thank GOODNESS it isn't our guy!!

So I guess the fix is still in...right?


13 posted on 12/28/2005 8:48:27 AM PST by Eagles Talon IV
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To: CaptRon

Whew! Then the nefarious plans for Ohio in 2008 are still in place!


14 posted on 12/28/2005 8:56:54 AM PST by KC_Conspirator
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To: CaptRon
Not the same Diebold.

Damn - I was hoping that the graveyard vote would finally go Republican.

15 posted on 12/28/2005 8:56:54 AM PST by Slings and Arrows (I strongly condemn violence against adulterous gay cannibals.)
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To: RightWhale
Always room for a new line in the general outline of the nature of reality.

LOL! That would make a great tagline!

16 posted on 12/28/2005 8:57:06 AM PST by ShadowAce (Linux -- The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
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To: KC_Conspirator

You betcha.


17 posted on 12/28/2005 9:10:54 AM PST by CaptRon (Pedecaris alive or Raisuli dead)
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To: RightWhale

The threads of time are infinite in number and you have them all in your hand.............


18 posted on 12/28/2005 9:20:44 AM PST by Red Badger (And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him)
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To: IronJack
I wonder if computers will ever be useful in business ...

Computers are probably the biggest drain on American business productivity.

19 posted on 12/28/2005 9:24:45 AM PST by PAR35
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To: Red Badger

Possibilities are limitless but not infinite.


20 posted on 12/28/2005 9:28:11 AM PST by RightWhale (pas de lieu, Rhone que nous)
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