Cray

A 1963 internal memo from IBM chief executive Thomas Watson Jr. about the Control Data Corporation 6600, then the world's fastest computer, is drawing attention via the Computer History Museum's archive. In the memo Watson acknowledged IBM had been beaten by a smaller rival, reportedly telling staff that since CDC's Seymour Cray could design such a machine with a small team, IBM should reflect on how its own far larger operation had not. It stands as a candid admission of competitive defeat from one of corporate history's most powerful executives.