IT HAS BEEN BUSY. THE

CINEMA IN PARIS AND BOOK LAUNCHES IN TRIPLICATE.

AND IT IS HOT, AS YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED! SO THIS

WEEK WE GO ICE COOL WITH

A THREE VOLUME SET OF BOOKS ISSUED BY IBM IN

JAPAN IN 1988 TO MARK 50 YEARS OF PROGRESS. HIP

TO BE SQUARE AND COOL

LIKE THE TEMPERATURE WE HOPE TO ACHIEVE. 

Three books in three slipcases. Of course it is that IBM PC computer grey - but in a lovely pinstripe. The vaguely computer shaped arrangement is ours by the way.

CGI without the AI. The book is illustrated with cutting edge graphics. Possibly even more appealing today than they were on publication.

Photographically the book is old school. This young man definitely thought pocket and was rewarded with a certificate.

This is just one of the great photographs of man and machine. And fashion wise, it's Neapolitan ice cream. Spumoni to be precise.

Back to the computer generated visuals and WOW! That's a good one!

"勤務時間中に車の絵を描かないようにした方がいい," she is saying. The book (actually set of three volumes totalling 1,300+ pages) is massively mundane in places and all the better for it. This isn't Apple in California!

The books go right back to 1935. They are historic documents. This photo showing the world touch typing record being set - the company's annual report delivered with no mistakes in a time quicker than Mary Peters' 800 metres.

Which is not to say all the pages are full of très amusant photographs. 1,200 of the 1,300 look more like this.

And there are only 20 or so computer artworks but they are very, very good. 

The books were never for sale. This set was presented to an employee by the Chairman of IBM Japan in 1988. They are rare. Cool IBM books are even rarer. And this one is ice cold cool. 

Buy the three volumes now on the green button below. They are all yours.