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LEO: The Incredible Story of the World's First Business Computer
This book takes you behind the scenes at the creation of the world's first business computer - the precursor to every computer in every office around the world. It places you in the midst of a dynamic group of creative people - visionaries who were the first to recognize the potential and harness the power of computing for business purposes. Written by the real-life participants in these exciting events, it "depicts the scene frankly, warts and all, " as David Caminer, the pioneering team leader, writes in his preface. LEO reveals the strange and remarkable tale of how Lyons - a venerable tea-and-cake company - bred, incubated, and hatched that history-making business computer. In 1951, less than 2 years after the project was initiated, LEO went on-line as the world's first business computer. A forerunner to the IBM mainframes, LEO was the first computer to run a payroll, the first to perform inventories, and the first to track product distribution - as well as the first to calculate the blending of fine, flavorful, and cost-effective cups of tea.
392 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 9, 2019
I am pretty sure this is the one I read way back in the 90s. Sort of thin on technical details, but good coverage of the business side, and it made for an interesting story - the development of LEO, the first computer used for business purposes. Not by an electronics, business machine, or defense contractor, but by the British restaurant chain J. Lyons & Co. After success using their computer internally for payroll and logistics, Lyons formed a small computing division and invested in a few model iterations.
Lyons Computing was bought by English Electric, which merged with GEC, which was bought by ICL, which is now owned by Fujitsu, and while the LEO didn't manage a great impact on the market, it did have impressive longevity. At least through the mid-1980s, and perhaps longer, British Telecom ran "Orange Leos": ICL2900 mainframes (colored orange) which emulated an ICL 1900 mainframe, which emulated a GEC System 4, which emulated a LEO.
Once you've got something that really works, it's hard to give it up.
A mostly functional LEO III emulator written in C can be found here: http://sw.ccs.bcs.org/CCs/index.html
Lyons Computing was bought by English Electric, which merged with GEC, which was bought by ICL, which is now owned by Fujitsu, and while the LEO didn't manage a great impact on the market, it did have impressive longevity. At least through the mid-1980s, and perhaps longer, British Telecom ran "Orange Leos": ICL2900 mainframes (colored orange) which emulated an ICL 1900 mainframe, which emulated a GEC System 4, which emulated a LEO.
Once you've got something that really works, it's hard to give it up.
A mostly functional LEO III emulator written in C can be found here: http://sw.ccs.bcs.org/CCs/index.html
September 11, 2008
a glimpse back in time to the beginning of the computer era from a business/user point of view...
short plot description: it is the year 1947. J Lyons & company (a catering company in the UK) sends two employees to the US to resarch what's new in the world of business management. Not impressed with most of what they find they have one important thing to report: the implied potential in the "electronic brain". The company sees the possibilities implied in the new technology but at the time there was no company to whom they could turn for help. And so without much fanfare they decide to build their own computer, starting by sponsoring the EDSAC developed at the University of Cambridge Mathematical Laboratory and then based on that design building their own computer the LEO I (Lyons Electronic Office) and integrating the computer successfully into their business. Once word of this gets around they get their first inquiries and off we go...
my thoughts: I put the book down with mixed feelings since I thought the book had some weaknesses. First the book is different from most books on computer history (say "Engines of the mind" by Joel Shurkin) in that it is very light on the technical details (almost no hardware, some software) but focuses on the business side of "Why" and "How" of the LEO story and the people who made it happen which made it for me in parts a dry read since I'm not a business person. The book is split in several parts, first David Carminer (1915-2008, RIP) gives an overview of the years 1947-1968 (when LEO finally folded), then other involved people give their personal accounts. I found this a bit problematic since the first part of the book ends in 1968 and with the turning of the page I found myself back in 1947. Maybe an outsider/third person approach (think Steven Levy's "Hackers - Heroes of the Computer Revulution") which consolidated all the different accounts and views into a coherent narrative would have worked better. Third and last complaint is a felt lack of context. We get told what they did and why they did it but the average reader (defined here as someone who isn't an accountant/businessman and who doesn't know much about computers) will probably be puzzled what actually it was that was so groundbreaking.
That out of the way I think if you have the right background (some knowledge of accounting, inventory control, invoicing and some background in computing) this is a fascinating read. More than once I blinked, put the book down, thought "they did what? no way" and actually did quick research on the web to confirm some facts.
Also very interesting I found the discussions regarding the approach to business computing. The LEO staff down to the last person are proponents of a integrated way, analysing the business needs of a customer and if necessary changing the way the business is run to make the best possible use of technology and not "shoehorning" technology for technology's sake (and to make a quick sale) into a business though they readily admit that this was probably the downfall for LEO.
Some other interesting points are made regarding technology and innovation, some good food for thought.
In the end this book is a sometimes dry, almost humble account of early business computing which downplays the fact that LEO was a groundbreaking accomplishment. Starting with nothing more than a vision what computers could do and a basic design of a prototype computer they did get software projects done which even in today's world with almost depressing regularly fail.
my advice: this is not for the casual reader. You need some background in business and accounting to fully appreciate the book and ultimately the achievements of LEO.
If you have the background, read it (and weep thinking on how business computing could actually be done today).
short plot description: it is the year 1947. J Lyons & company (a catering company in the UK) sends two employees to the US to resarch what's new in the world of business management. Not impressed with most of what they find they have one important thing to report: the implied potential in the "electronic brain". The company sees the possibilities implied in the new technology but at the time there was no company to whom they could turn for help. And so without much fanfare they decide to build their own computer, starting by sponsoring the EDSAC developed at the University of Cambridge Mathematical Laboratory and then based on that design building their own computer the LEO I (Lyons Electronic Office) and integrating the computer successfully into their business. Once word of this gets around they get their first inquiries and off we go...
my thoughts: I put the book down with mixed feelings since I thought the book had some weaknesses. First the book is different from most books on computer history (say "Engines of the mind" by Joel Shurkin) in that it is very light on the technical details (almost no hardware, some software) but focuses on the business side of "Why" and "How" of the LEO story and the people who made it happen which made it for me in parts a dry read since I'm not a business person. The book is split in several parts, first David Carminer (1915-2008, RIP) gives an overview of the years 1947-1968 (when LEO finally folded), then other involved people give their personal accounts. I found this a bit problematic since the first part of the book ends in 1968 and with the turning of the page I found myself back in 1947. Maybe an outsider/third person approach (think Steven Levy's "Hackers - Heroes of the Computer Revulution") which consolidated all the different accounts and views into a coherent narrative would have worked better. Third and last complaint is a felt lack of context. We get told what they did and why they did it but the average reader (defined here as someone who isn't an accountant/businessman and who doesn't know much about computers) will probably be puzzled what actually it was that was so groundbreaking.
That out of the way I think if you have the right background (some knowledge of accounting, inventory control, invoicing and some background in computing) this is a fascinating read. More than once I blinked, put the book down, thought "they did what? no way" and actually did quick research on the web to confirm some facts.
Also very interesting I found the discussions regarding the approach to business computing. The LEO staff down to the last person are proponents of a integrated way, analysing the business needs of a customer and if necessary changing the way the business is run to make the best possible use of technology and not "shoehorning" technology for technology's sake (and to make a quick sale) into a business though they readily admit that this was probably the downfall for LEO.
Some other interesting points are made regarding technology and innovation, some good food for thought.
In the end this book is a sometimes dry, almost humble account of early business computing which downplays the fact that LEO was a groundbreaking accomplishment. Starting with nothing more than a vision what computers could do and a basic design of a prototype computer they did get software projects done which even in today's world with almost depressing regularly fail.
my advice: this is not for the casual reader. You need some background in business and accounting to fully appreciate the book and ultimately the achievements of LEO.
If you have the background, read it (and weep thinking on how business computing could actually be done today).
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews