People keep asking, "Who's going to win the rematch between Deep Blue and Garry Kasparov?"

My answer's simple: "Everyone whose life -- in one way or another -- is touched by information technology."

Naturally, I'm interested in Deep Blue winning the match, and I'm willing to hazard a guess that Deep Blue will indeed win. But bragging rights aren't what's at stake here. The real issue is applying advanced information technology to solve everyday problems.

Think about it. Playing chess requires knowledge of countless possibilities -- quickly providing answers to any number of "what if" questions. That's what business people and members of the scientific community have come to expect from massively parallel computer systems. And that's what they get with the IBM RS/6000, whose technology underlies Deep Blue.

Deep Blue may make for big headlines, and we're delighted with that. But the real work of Deep Blue's RS/6000 technology takes place quietly -- well away from the glare of publicity. Day after day, the IBM RS/6000 helps pharmaceutical companies develop innovative drug therapies, auto makers design cars and petroleum companies explore for oil buried deep under the ocean. It also helps forecast the weather, clean up toxic waste sites and safeguard the U.S. nuclear stockpile.

What's more, RS/6000 technology is behind some of the most creative approaches to the Internet -- providing web servers for retailers who sell merchandise and securities companies that want to make it more convenient for investors to trade stocks and bonds.

For proof of RS/6000 capabilities, look no further than this web site. You may recall what happened the first day Deep Blue and Garry Kasparov battled last year. The web site crashed. Frankly, we weren't prepared for the worldwide interest the match would generate. The web site couldn't handle all the "hits" of chess fans trying to follow the action. But literally overnight, we scaled up the RS/6000 server -- adding nodes. The result? The site was able to handle three million "hits" in three hours.

So, sure, on one level Deep Blue is about winning at chess. But, on another level, it's about winning the ongoing struggle to make it easier for you and me to go about our daily lives -- whether it's driving to work or getting on the Internet to check out the score.