Thanks all for the clues and info. :-) Roops
On Sun, 27 Apr 2025, 20:15 Radoslaw Skorupka, < [email protected]> wrote: > No, it was Ferranti. > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferranti_Mark_1 > > -- > Radoslaw Skorupka > Lodz, Poland > > > > W dniu 25.04.2025 o 21:33, Seymour J Metz pisze: > > First commercial machine is probably the UNIVAC I; I think the ERA > machines were military and not commercially available until later. The > first commercial computer from IBM would be the Defense Research > Calculator, AKA 701. > > > > With bit addressable you don't have to worry as much about boundaries, > although on some machines a byte can't straddle words. > > > > -- > > Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz > > http://mason.gmu.edu/~smetz3 > > עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל חַי > > נֵ֣צַח יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לֹ֥א יְשַׁקֵּ֖ר > > > > > > > > ________________________________________ > > From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List on behalf of Rupert Reynolds > > Sent: Friday, April 25, 2025 2:45 PM > > To:[email protected] > > Subject: Re: What has IBM ever done for us? (probably more than I know) > > > > > > External Message: Use Caution > > > > > > 1401? That's bitrot on my part, I guess. I wonder what the first > commercial > > stored program digital computer was? > > > > I see byte-addressable RAM as an advantage, myself, due to the > convenience, > > rather than the old hassle of working out how many characters we could > > store in each (36-bit?) word and mangling them in, then later extracting > > them. > > > > Leaving unused bytes to align the next word seems a small price to pay > :-) > > > > Roops > > > > On Fri, 25 Apr 2025, 15:19 Seymour J Metz,<[email protected]> wrote: > > > >> 1401? Neither big nor first. It primarily served two markets: > >> > >> Entry level computer for small shops > >> Offline tape-unit record transfers to support larger machines. > >> > >> FORTRAN? Not the first, but the first to gain traction. > >> > >> IBM and GE had compatible families before S/360. > >> > >> byte-addressable storage? A step back from 7030 (Stretch), CDC 3600 and > >> DEC PDP-6. "Any size you want as long as it's 8" > >> > >> Disk? Yes, it was first. > >> > >> DRAM? Do delay lines count? William Tubes? IBM used both, but did not > >> pioneer. > >> > >> long term compatibility? Burroughs B6500, GE 6xx, UNIVAC 1107. > >> > >> -- > >> Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz > >> http://mason.gmu.edu/~smetz3 > >> עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל חַי > >> נֵ֣צַח יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לֹ֥א יְשַׁקֵּ֖ר > >> > >> > >> > >> ________________________________________ > >> From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List on behalf of Rupert Reynolds > >> Sent: Friday, April 25, 2025 8:14 AM > >> To:[email protected] > >> Subject: What has IBM ever done for us? (probably more than I know) > >> > >> > >> External Message: Use Caution > >> > >> > >> Since it's Friday, would anyone care to contribute an opinion, or just > an > >> item for the list? > >> > >> (I've been asked to give an informal talk to a small group of > enthusiasts. > >> The idea is to look at where we've come from, where we are now, and > take a > >> few guesses at what's next). > >> > >> Off the top of my head, IBM either innovated, or helped to promote in a > big > >> way, things we take for granted :- > >> > >> . 1401, the first big stored program computer > >> . 1403 a fast chain printer > >> ' FORTRAN, which I think was one of the first high level language > compilers > >> . s/360 (and family) with its flexible & compatible architecture > >> . Hard disc drives (was RAMAC the first?) > >> . DRAM > >> . byte-addressable storage (rather than only being able to address > >> word-by-word) > >> . 8 bits in a byte > >> . word sizes a power of 2 > >> . long term compatibility, where a 1970s program will still run and > >> assemble/compile > >> . 3270 data stream protocol, an efficient way to drive displays without > >> flooding the network with unnecessary data, and still used today in > tn3270. > >> . the ATM (Automated Teller Machine, for the avoidance of doubt!). > Lloyds > >> Bank asked, and IBM delivered it (in UK, I think) > >> > >> Have I blundered? > >> > >> Roops :-) > >> > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
