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I had always assumed that Watson was a reference to Sherlock Holmes' assistant. "Elementary my dear Watson" and such.

Googled "ww2 watson" to find the wiki with the info you reference.

Does IBM make clear which Watson the name's a reference to? I have to think you're right, but the Sherlock Holmes reference makes so much more sense to me in the sense of being the assistant while also stroking the customer's ego as the brilliant detective who hired Watson.



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