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IBM Research Center by Thomas J. Watson

In the next episodes of the television show Jeopardy (the Russian equivalent of “Own Game”), which will be aired on February 14-16, the IBM Watson supercomputer will compete with its champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter in the first ever confrontation of this kind . Watson is the fruit of the four-year work of 25 scientists at the Thomas J. Watson Research Center located in Yorktown Heights, New York.

The Watson Laboratory is considered one of the last, if not the most recent, of the main historical American technological research laboratories, which still exists and functions.

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Watson Sr. (1874-1956) was hired to work in 1914 to manage the merger of three companies, which together would have to become the world-famous International Business Machines. Over the next several decades, Watson built one of the largest companies in the history of American business. A company that will play a major role in the development of computers. As a pioneer of technology, IBM has many more patents for inventions than any other American company.

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“IBM is not only an organization of men. This is an institution that will work forever, ”Watson loved to say.



“Think” is the classic motto of Watson the Elder. This word graced IBM everywhere. Watson Sr. thus wanted to inform scientists that they would never stop thinking. Objects of the company, notebooks and even matchboxes carried the word "Think". The name of the company's notebooks, the ThinkPad, came from him.

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View from the back of the building to the parking lot. If you look at the complex from the air, it looks like a giant eye, pointing up towards the sky.

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Inside the lab

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Caution, hazardous materials

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This massive table is located in the middle of the library. He was moved only once. The table top has a sloping edge at the bottom, under which it is convenient to push the chairs. The chairs themselves are also antique, only with new upholstery. They were designed so that a person could curl up on them.

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Trees reflected in the lab door

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Protective clothing

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Research lab needs a lot of energy

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Suddenly the corridor forks

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Time capsule. An information capsule was posted here on April 25, 1961.

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Lecture hall. Jeopardy scenery dismantled. Watson "lives" under this room in a room with climate control and personal security.

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Cafeteria table

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Inside the cafeteria is a wall of scholarship holders (the so-called IBM Fellow). Being here is the highest honor for any scientist working at IBM. The award is presented by the CEO of the company personally.

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The office of Dr. Robert Dennard, who invented dynamic random access memory - DRAM, in 1966. Dennard (IBM Fellow 1979) was awarded a national technology medal by President Reagan in 1988. He still comes to the Yorktown laboratory to work every day, which has devoted 50 years of life.

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via Wired

Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/113621/



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