Nagging Question: Why Is IBM Called Big Blue?

Though IBM was born in 1911, the Big Blue label entered the vernacular in the early eighties, when it started cropping up in the popular press. "Big" alludes to the company's size. "Blue" is more of a mystery: Most techno-linguists say it refers to the iconic blue logo or the blue covers on many of IBM's old mainframes. Obscure etymology aside, IBM now embraces its colorful nickname, as evidenced by Deep Blue, the chess-playing supercomputer that made world champ Garry Kasparov see red in 1997.

Contributing Editor Steve Fox covers buzzworthy products, ideas, and trends. Contact him at steve_fox@pcworld.com. Click here for more Plugged In.