On Sun, 16 Jan 2000, Doug Henwood wrote:
> In fact, you could say as much about the entire computer industry. As
> Kenneth Flamm writes in his book "Creating the Computer": "Key
> players in the military first tried to convince established business
> and investment bankers that a new and potentially profitable business
> opportunity was presenting itself. They did not succeed, and,
> consequently, the Defense Department committed itself to an
> enormously expensive development program ..."
>
> Europe's weakness in computers is often attributed to its stodgy
> business culture and thin financial markets, but, as Flamm shows,
> European governments were too stingy in their subsidies in the 1950s
> to get an industry going. By the 1960s, the U.S. lead was unbeatable.
This is an interesting argument. Is the rest of Flamm's book good?
Michael
__________________________________________________________________________ Michael Pollak................New York City..............mpollak at panix.com