Across the World in 3 Seconds

[Music] man has always wanted to communicate call it instinct curiosity maybe just plain sociability it's always lead man to want to establish contact with his brothers [Music] man also wanted to communicate in person and over distances his early writings being of hardly a portable nature he at first resorted as simple transportation his feet at journey's end he used the spoken word as man grew more sophisticated his written language evolved into a cipher which while comprehensive and largely explicit was still largely unported all and so for communication over distances he developed visual signals and simple codes [Music] but man still long to communicate in person but faster and legend has it Icarus sought to imitate the birds it didn't work out too well written language had not developed to the point where it was available to increasing numbers of people but person-to-person communication was not keeping pace and getting there was just an idle dream until an advancing technology made face-to-face communication a much simpler matter at least on the open sea inland man found himself confined to the roots of natural waterways and rail bed scientific advancement did not necessarily keep up with man's desire for faster communications the 24-hour Pony Express for example very effective but men tired and so did horses a logical advancement was the Telegraph and now a revolution in communications was in full swing not only the spoken or telegraphed word but man was getting there faster in person and each new step forward only wetted his appetite for speed more speed then one day he took to the air the ancient dream of Icarus and Leonardo da Vinci was realized and man's communication had acquired a new dimension up and on a historic day in May 1927 a man named Lindbergh electrified the world [Music] [Applause] [Music] New York to Paris non-stop 33 hours and now what was once a feat for heroes has become commonplace but this mass movement has generated yet another need flying to far-off places in this jet age is simplicity itself whether it be the Far East or any other part of the world but communications recording the comings and goings of millions crossing the national frontiers of the world must be maintained such records must be faster than the jet age which spawned them they must be readily available around the world they must be sure they must be precise once again the pressure for innovation and advancement has brought forth a solution deep in the heart of pan-american spectacular new building in New York is the home of Panem AK the most extensive IBM communications and reservations network of its kind ever developed these magnetic discs are whirling faster than the eye can follow they store information their capacity is enormous and their information is available for processing at a speed of up to 300,000 logical decisions in a single second it took six years of joint effort by International Business Machines and Pan American to create Hana Mac the result a system incorporating IBM electronic computers to record vital data on every single flight of a Pan Am clipper all over the world it will link 114 cities on six continents with the electronic computing center in New York what is it all add up to communications across the world in three seconds let's say France for instance hello an America good miss him we're at here and one we're at you I would like a reservation for 115 flight for New York Noma as he is speaking the reservation clerk is feeding his plans into the system from Paris and thence by direct electronic link to New York in New York they are assimilated checked against seat availabilities for the flight he is requested and automatically the word flashes back to Paris where the information goes on instantaneous display Monsieur move that does not know it yet but he's already cleared as far as New York yes I would like very much could you have the earliest as possible reservation for Caracas for two years further Panamax far-flung system is already at work on the second leg of his journey the information is fed in flashed once again to New York assimilated and evaluated against seed availabilities on the first available flight to Caracas and oh yes here's something additional from Paris and a reservation for two at the hotel Dominic oh yes the hotel space is available now Monsieur move as reservations have been made and this conversation is virtually over Monsieur Moreau has travel plans have been completed and confirmed in one brief phone call thank you thank you very much the speed of electronic communications is obvious however its full capacity is not for instance one might very well ask can it make logical choices my name is Hal no white I have a reservation on flight 100 to London I would like to change that to flight two departing later that same night oh here's an error the agent heard that name is Harold white his name is really Delmar Wyatt spelled WY ATT now let's see how Panamax handles this perfectly understandable human error [Music] mr. white we have no Harold white Oh riot yes you were booked and just one moment please yes space is available for flight to to London [Music] now we know that Panama has incredible speed and that it can make logical decisions but it has still another important faculty versatility this young lady must be presented with a birthday cake in flight that gentleman must have a wheelchair waiting for him on arrival [Music] all these facts and millions more are retained in magnetic storage once the facts are transmitted and stored by Panama they are available readily as this record gone astray certainly not records are stored electronically not on paper and the correct information is available in seconds still another dimension to Panamax a new flexibility to travel reservations let's look into the future in a place like Calcutta well we were talking to these people at lunch today and we found that we don't have to go back home by way of Europe then for even less money we can continue on around the world oh that's great how about making us up a whole North Canterbury 5jp bra okay why this gentleman will also want hotel reservations wherever there is more than 12 hours labor and an automobile in London and New York but this is a pretty complex matter as you can imagine and yet from the moment he speaks his travel plans are being processed what would only yesterday have seemed unbelievable will be happening before your eyes Panamax application to air cargo also offers great advantages increased speed and processing cargo reservations will expedite the already rapid transfer of goods by clipper cargo speed of handling from its reduced inventories abroad increases turnover steps up sales opportunities inevitably results in savings through mass volume but still a system is only as good as the people behind it Pan American and IBM are the people behind Panna Mac their training their experience these are the qualities of leadership and with Panama air transport takes another giant step forward [Music]