<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" ><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit;"><h3 class="UIIntentionalStory_Message" data-ft="{"type":"msg"}"><span class="UIIntentionalStory_Names" data-ft="{"type":"name"}">
</span><span class="UIStory_Message"><div id="id_4aca4379b646c1322a7da" class="text_exposed_root text_exposed">Today brings an anniversary that should give you a renewed appreciation
for whatever desktop, laptop or phone you happen to be computing with
these days. On this date in 1959, <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://click1.newsletters.siliconvalley.com/ihmdklgtp_aqjzrlvwlrw_czdlqgpn.html">IBM introduced its 1401 Data Processing System</a>, a machine that put mainframe computing power within the reach of a whole new range of business customers. The <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://click1.newsletters.siliconvalley.com/zrpsbrmtr_aqjzrlvwlrw_eshzbcwt.html">room-size system</a>
was one of the company's earliest transistorized computers, and it gave
mid-size businesses an opportunity to step up from conventional
punch-card equipment with features like high speed card punching and
reading, magnetic tape input and output, high speed printing, stored
program, and arithmetic and logical ability. A <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://click1.newsletters.siliconvalley.com/dblgcybgc_aqjzrlvwlrw_bnhlrvcz.html">1401 system</a>,
depending on configuration, weighed two to four tons, had a CPU running
at a clock speed 87 kilohertz (.087 megahertz), and contained 1,400 to
16,000 characters of magnetic core memory. In today's dollars, a
typical system rented for $45,000 a month or could be purchased for
$3.4 million. The machine proved so popular that by the mid-'60s, half
of all the computers in the world were members of the 1400 series.<span class="text_exposed_show"></span></div></span></h3><br><br>Michael Fuerst 802 N Broadway Urbana IL 61801<br>
217-239-5844<br>
<br>
If this email contains one of my sketches, <br>
feel free to print and duplicate for personal use.<br>
Contact me if you wish, but are unable to make, a printed copy</td></tr></table><br>