Arthur Humphreys

Arthur L. C. Humphreys (1917–2003)[1] was a former managing director of International Computers Limited and a long-time member of the British computer industry.[2]

He joined the British Tabulating Machine Company in 1940, and was involved in the negotiations with Powers-Samas that led to the formation of International Computers and Tabulators in 1958.[1] In 1968, on the formation of ICL, he became its first Managing Director.[1] When Geoff Cross became managing director in 1972, Humphreys was moved to the post of Deputy Chairman, where he remained until his retirement in 1983.[1]

  • Oral history interview with Arthur L. C. Humphreys, Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota. Humphreys, a former managing director of International Computers, Limited (ICL), reviews the history of the British computer industry. Topics include: the termination in 1949 of the trade agreement between IBM and the British Tabulating Machine Company, the merger in 1959 of British Tabulating and the Powers Samas Company into International Computers and Tabulators, Ltd. (ICT), and the merger in 1968 of English Electric Computers Limited and ICT into ICL. Humphreys explains how the last merger was enacted by the government to establish a single national computer company. Humphreys also discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the British computer industry, and compares the management of the British and American computer industries. He mentions the European Economic Community's efforts to establish Unidata, a multinational computer company, and the problems associated with conducting business across Europe's linguistic and cultural boundaries.

References
  1. http://www.chilton-computing.org.uk/acl/associates/companies/humphreys.htm
  2. http://purl.umn.edu/107365


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