BEDFORD HILLS, NY, United States (UPI) -- John Diebold, a 1950s-era advocate for computers who popularized the term 'automation,' has died in his New York state home.
Diebold, who succumbed Monday to esophageal cancer, was 79, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.
When he was only 26, he wrote a book entitled 'Automation,' advocating the then-unprecedented notion of using programmable devices in daily business.
After graduating from Swathmore College and serving in the Merchant Marine, he went to Harvard Business School and shortly thereafter started his own consulting business, John Diebold & Associates.
Over the next 50 years, Diebold counted major corporations like AT&T, IBM, Boeing and Xerox among his clients, along with cities like Chicago and New York and countries like Venezuela and Jordan.
Diebold is survived by his wife, Vanessa, two daughters and a son. His first marriage ended in divorce.
Copyright 2005 by United Press International
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