Thanks; that makes 2 firsts for Manchester-Ferranti. -- Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz http://mason.gmu.edu/~smetz3 עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל חַי נֵ֣צַח יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לֹ֥א יְשַׁקֵּ֖ר
________________________________________ From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List on behalf of Radoslaw Skorupka Sent: Sunday, April 27, 2025 3:15 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: What has IBM ever done for us? (probably more than I know) External Message: Use Caution 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
