BRIEFCASE IBM MAY DEPART FROM FIELD IT BUILT.Byline: - Staff and Wire Services NEW YORK New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of - International Business Machines Corp.'s possible exit from the personal computer business would be the latest move in what amounts to a long goodbye from a field it pioneered and revolutionized. Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) helped bring personal computing Refers to users working on their own computers rather than a terminal to a mainframe. Sometimes, the term refers to using computers at home for work and/or entertainment in contrast to business use only. See personal computer. to everyday users with its introduction of the IBM PC A PC made by IBM. IBM created the PC industry in 1981 when it introduced its first model with 16KB of RAM. However, it was way off in its estimates, projecting that 250,000 units would be sold in the first five years. In fact, about three million IBM PCs were sold in that period. in 1981. But as prices fell and competition mounted from the likes of Dell and Hewlett-Packard, IBM started selling its factories in the late 1990s. And in 2003, it sold a factory in Scotland and the lease on a plant in Mexico - the last PC plants it owned alone. IBM contracted with other companies like Sanmina and Great Wall Technology to assemble the PCs and ThinkPad laptops carrying the IBM name. Top court to mull high-speed lines WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court agreed Friday to consider whether cable companies must open their high-speed lines to rival Internet providers. Justices will hear two cases challenging a lower ruling forcing cable companies to share their lines. That October 2003 decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has been stayed pending the outcome of appeals. At issue is whether cable-based broadband is a ``telecommunications service'' that makes it subject to strict Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission (FCC), independent executive agency of the U.S. government established in 1934 to regulate interstate and foreign communications in the public interest. rules requiring phone companies to provide access to independent providers. It is a case that pits government and cable interests in spurring growth of the technology against consumer interests in lower prices. Sweetener Sweetener A special feature added to a debt obligation or preferred stock to promote marketability. Notes: Warrants and convertibles are two popular sweeteners. See also: Convertible Bond, Kicker, Warrant Sweetener maker trying to keep up Dieters hoping for a slew of new products with the sugar substitute Splenda may be disappointed next year. That's because the maker of sucralose sucralose: see sweetener, artificial. , the key ingredient behind the increasingly ubiquitous no-calorie sweetener, is having trouble keeping up with demand. Tate & Lyle PLC, the world's only manufacturer of sucralose, said interest has so outpaced expectations the company won't take on new U.S. customers until it has doubled production at its plant in McIntosh, Ala., sometime in early 2006. |
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