Background
Cortada, James William was born on September 7, 1946 in Havana, Cuba. Son of James Nicholas and Shirley (Barlow) Cortada.
(In The third volume of The Digital Hand, James W. Cortada...)
In The third volume of The Digital Hand, James W. Cortada completes his sweeping survey of the effect of computers on American industry, turning finally to the public sector, and examining how computers have fundamentally changed the nature of work in government and education. This book goes far beyond generalizations about the Information Age to the specifics of how industries have functioned, now function, and will function in the years to come. Cortada combines detailed analysis with narrative history to provide a broad overview of computings and telecommunications role in the entire public sector, including federal, state, and local governments, and in K-12 and higher education. Beginning in 1950, when commercial applications of digital technology began to appear, Cortada examines the unique ways different public sector industries adopted new technologies, showcasing the manner in which their innovative applications influenced other industries, as well as the U.S. economy as a whole. He builds on the surveys presented in the first volume of the series, which examined sixteen manufacturing, process, transportation, wholesale and retail industries, and the second volume, which examined over a dozen financial, telecommunications, media, and entertainment industries. With this third volume, The Digital Hand trilogy is complete, and forms the most comprehensive and rigorously researched history of computing in business since 1950, providing a detailed picture of what the infrastructure of the Information Age really looks like and how we got there. Managers, historians, economists, and those working in the public sector will appreciate Cortada's analysis of digital technology's many roles and future possibilities.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195165861/?tag=2022091-20
(A discussion of the potential for instability in China fr...)
A discussion of the potential for instability in China from political, economic and historical perspectives. It considers elite and local politics, micro- and macro-economics, urban and rural conditions, attitudes among intellectuals, and minority areas.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1563242346/?tag=2022091-20
(Before the Computer fully explores the data processing in...)
Before the Computer fully explores the data processing industry in the United States from its nineteenth-century inception down to the period when the computer became its primary tool. As James Cortada describes what was once called the "office appliance industry," he challenges our view of the digital computer as a revolutionary technology. Cortada interprets reliance on computers as a development within an important segment of the American economy that was earlier represented largely by such instruments as typewriters, tabulating machines, adding machines, and calculators. He also describes how many of the practices of the office appliance industry evolved into those of the computer world. Drawing on previously unavailable industry archives, the author adds to our understanding of IBM's early history and offers short corporate histories of firms that include NCR, Burroughs, and Remington Rand. Focusing on the United States but also including comparative material on Europe and Asia, Before the Computer will be a unique source of knowledge about the companies that built office equipment and their enormous impact on economic life.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691050457/?tag=2022091-20
management consultant business historian
Cortada, James William was born on September 7, 1946 in Havana, Cuba. Son of James Nicholas and Shirley (Barlow) Cortada.
Bachelor, Randolph-Macon College, 1969; Master of Arts, Florida State University, 1970; Doctor of Philosophy, Florida State University, 1973.
With, International Business Machines Corporation Corporation, various locations, since 1974; branch manager, International Business Machines Corporation Corporation, Madison, Wisconsin, 1987-1989; manager market driven quality, International Business Machines Corporation Corporation, Madison, Wisconsin, 1989-1991; management consultant, International Business Machines Corporation Corporation, Madison, Wisconsin, since 1992.
( Before the Computer fully explores the data processing ...)
(Before the Computer fully explores the data processing in...)
(A discussion of the potential for instability in China fr...)
(In The third volume of The Digital Hand, James W. Cortada...)
Member fundraising county United Way, Madison, 1988. Board directors Madison Urban League, 1989, 92-. Member American History Association, Charles Babbage Institute, American Society Quality Control, Society Spanish and Portuguese Studies, Virginia History Society, Orange County History Society, Kiwanis.
Married Dora Jane Tappy, July 2, 1947. Children: Elizabeth, Julia.