It gives a whole host of backstory that I’m only going to touch on here.

(via WinWorldPC) How IBM’s much-hyped but underwhelming OS found a home serving millionsĮrnie’s previous piece on the story behind IBM’s push into microkernels and its overall failure is pretty great … like, go read it. Among many choices, one of the most robust turned out to be one of IBM’s most high-profile failures. You pretty much get just one shot-and any mistakes will likely cost billions to repair and frustrate that lives of millions. Because when you build something as important as the infrastructure to the NYC subway, it needs to work. Before we can touch that topic, it’s helpful to understand how the current system came to be. The story of how the current method for accessing New York’s subway is interesting for its insights into public infrastructure and the way it serves the public. A thin slice of yellow plastic with a prominent black strip, the MetroCard has been a staple of New Yorkers wallets since its introduction in 1993. No bigger bet was made than the one by the MTA, the Metropolitan Transit Authority, who needed some process to eliminate tokens while moving into an era where everything was expected to be digitized. However, IBM’s confidence in its operating system prowess led others to take similar chances.

His article demonstrates how big the bet was. In a Tedium article from this past March, Ernie wrote about IBM’s big bet on a microkernel for operating systems, a bet that included a variant of its well-known-if-less-remembered OS/2. (littleny/Adobe Stock) Betting on the future is hard, but the MTA kinda did it

New york city subway