Social Construction and the British Computer Industry in the Post-World War II Period

The rhetoric of Americanisation: Social construction and the British computer industry in the Post-World War II period By Robert James Kirkwood Reid Submitted to the University of Glasgow for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Economic History Department of Economic and Social History September 2007 1 Abstract This research seeks to understand the process of technological development in the UK and the specific role of a ‘rhetoric of Americanisation’ in that process. The concept of a ‘rhetoric of Americanisation’ will be developed throughout the thesis through a study into the computer industry in the UK in the post-war period . Specifically, the thesis discusses the threat of America, or how actors in the network of innovation within the British computer industry perceived it as a threat and the effect that this perception had on actors operating in the networks of construction in the British computer industry. However, the reaction to this threat was not a simple one. Rather this story is marked by sectional interests and technopolitical machination attempting to capture this rhetoric of ‘threat’ and ‘falling behind’. In this thesis the concept of ‘threat’ and ‘falling behind’, or more simply the ‘rhetoric of Americanisation’, will be explored in detail and the effect this had on the development of the British computer industry. What form did the process of capture and modification by sectional interests within government and industry take and what impact did this have on the British computer industry? In answering these questions, the thesis will first develop a concept of a British culture of computing which acts as the surface of emergence for various ideologies of innovation within the social networks that made up the computer industry in the UK. In developing this understanding of a culture of computing, the fundamental distinction between the US and UK culture of computing will be explored. This in turn allows us to develop a concept of how Americanisation emerged as rhetorical construct. With the influence of a ‘rhetoric of Americanisation’, the culture of computing in the UK began to change and the process through which government and industry interacted in the development of computing technologies also began to change. In this second half of the thesis a more nuanced and complete view of the nature of innovation in computing in the UK in the sixties will be developed. This will be achieved through an understanding of the networks of interaction between government and industry and how these networks were reconfigured through a ‘rhetoric of Americanisation’. As a result of this, the thesis will arrive at a more complete view of change and development within the British computer industry and how interaction with government influences that change. 2 Acknowledgements Thanks to the following for their help in the research and writing of this thesis. Raymond Stokes, Neil Rollings, James Sumner, Brian Randell, Barry White, Malcolm Nicolson, Jim Tomlinson, the Staff of the National Archives, Niall Mackenzie, Duncan Connors, Iain McTavish, John Reid, Helen Reid & Lorna Geddes. My Thanks 3 Contents Abstract ..................................................................................................................... 2 List of Figures and Table ........................................................................................ 5 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 6 Chapter 1 ................................................................................................................ 21 The British Culture of Computing: Memory and Patents Chapter 2 ................................................................................................................ 55 Self-Sufficiency in Independent Commercial Computing in the Early 1950s Chapter 3 ................................................................................................................ 80 The Users' Prison, the Users' Playpen: British Computer development and Utilisation in the Commercial Context Chapter 4 .............................................................................................................. 117 Reconfiguration in a changing market: The Atlas & Stretch Chapter 5 .............................................................................................................. 153 Changing Government: Industry Interaction: Commercial Computing and Merger Chapter 6 .............................................................................................................. 192 Technopolitical Regimes of Rationalisation 1964-1968 Chapter 7 .............................................................................................................. 225 Technopolitical Regimes of European Integration Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 254 Bibliography 263 4 List of Figures and Tables Figure 1: Annual sales by BTM of punched card equipment ........................................ 180 Figure 2: Combined annual sales of computers by BTM/ICT & Ferranti ..................... 181 Table 1 Breakdown of Usage of Atlas............................................................................ 130 Table 2 Cost of Various Computer Systems................................................................... 132 Table 3: Market Shares of US Computer Companies..................................................... 148 Table 4: Department of Defence Computer Usage (March 31 st 1965)........................... 149 Table 5 Shareholders in ICL........................................................................................... 220 5 Introduction In 1967 Servan-Schreiber wrote Le Défi Américain or The American Challenge. In that book he spoke of a war between Europe and the United States. 1 That war was an economic and technological one. The US had ‘invaded’ Europe through investment in European industries and by establishing European subsidiaries which competed aggressively with their local counterparts. This was particularly noticeable in knowledge based industries. Servan-Schreiber noted that the frontline of the ‘war’ against the American economy would be the computer industry: “The war is industrial, and its major battle is in the field of computing. The battle is very much in doubt, but it has not yet been lost.” 2 In many respects the computer industry, more than any other, represented a battleground of ideas, strategy and ideology. This was no more so the case than in post- war Britain. As a result, the choice of to study the British computer industry in this thesis is no accident This thesis seeks to re-evaluate the story of the development of the computer industry in the UK from the end of the Second World War up to the late 1960s. There are two key themes which, taken together, distinguish this account from previous ones. In the first instance one cannot view computer development as a process determined by technological factors alone. Indeed, it is vital to understand the role of social group in the development of the industry and the technology. Secondly, central to our understanding of the developmental process are the ideological and rhetorical factors which influenced these social groups. In this thesis, specific attention will be paid to the concept of a “rhetoric of Americanisation” and its influence upon the various actors in the constructive process. In this introduction I will present my understanding of these two factors, detail the interface between these two theoretical concepts and discuss how they inform the content of the thesis. 1 Servan-Schreiber, JJ, The American Challenge (Harmondsworth: Penguin; 1968) 2 Servan-Schreiber, JJ, The American Challenge (Harmondsworth: Penguin; 1968) p.111 6 Histories of the computer industry have focused primarily on the technical aspects of the history with little reference to the social groups and process mediating these technical changes. For example, Martin Campbell-Kelly’s history of ICL is hampered by a lack of discussion on the interaction between society and technology that is evident from the battleground of ideas that the computer industry represents. 3 To an extent, some histories have focused on the role of social groups in configuring computer development. Jon Agar’s history of the development of the computer points out that in the context of the UK, social groups can be seen to impact greatly on the progress of computerisation. 4 In his account the computer becomes viewed as a bureaucratic tool towards the establishment of a modern society, promoted by an ‘expert movement’ from within the Treasury with the singular identity of the ‘Organisation and Methods movement’. A number of other studies make an attempt to develop a theory of interaction between social groups in government and industry. 5 While this focus on governmental departments and computerisation is useful in suggesting that such social groups are significant in their contribution to computerisation in society, what remains less clear is the specific linkages between social groups, particularly within government and the developmental process of the British computer industry generally. To an extent John Hendry in his discussion of the computer industry as it related to the NRDC (National Research and Development Corporation) develops a picture of the impact of interaction between government and the computer industry. 6 However, the

Load more