[CMI.PM] HAPPY BIRTHDAY IBM 1401 !!!

[Michael Fuerst]

                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, IBM introduced its 1401 Data Processing System, a machine that put mainframe computing power within the reach of a whole new range of business customers. The room-size system
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 1401 system,
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.

Michael Fuerst   802 N Broadway  Urbana IL 61801

217-239-5844



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