Twentieth Century Computer Product Proposals: A Wealth of Information About Information Technologies and Their Uses

This article describes the features of formal data processing proposals written in the twentieth century by computer vendors; in this case by IBM. Tens of thousands of such documents were carefully prepared, but remain nearly invisible to members of the IT community and to its scholars, as these were considered highly confidential between customers and vendors. The features of this class of document are presented with two case studies. Yet these provide important information regarding IT operations and their costs.