That page was written in the 21st century, decades after the 1401 was dead. Back in the day, I never heard the 1401 referred to as anything other than a small computer or "tinkertoy".
-- Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz http://mason.gmu.edu/~smetz3 ________________________________________ From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU> on behalf of Joe Monk <joemon...@gmail.com> Sent: Thursday, December 27, 2018 4:37 AM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: How about a little Christmas fudge? | Computerworld Shark tank https://secure-web.cisco.com/1L2raQ-8_G9-SYk2KnILVSKPww9HrRORF069I5Uo84AILQ5FaWTvVGjdotgxI9IaVfTV3OEZzOC0Ul3EKY_IubpP46jSpA0GdrOniDnQe7Oev07YpnJM8CyRxlgHIvqAdg5o_NN3qYvLl1LfFtwSxNjnfpvrpqvXN3U_fgr5pEc9WctnZvyiOdFpRu6-uB3tkgntD7eVoUL8c1aOawCJOS3Qv7GLfpaf0hNZAT50fza14oiDgl_LzqbxxNtoIvZeVT3NgkrEhKRg5s69Hg_sewGG8IHXdGEjaDq2ethkrZ71-HHKVwSowCux51lIH06hi_JHWWUs5qjs5yyR_HGaKY9866HIlP-4M2ek7drNCe1YwxNUCpsZcMT5-L7ox_qZ2/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ibm.com%2Fibm%2Fhistory%2Fibm100%2Fus%2Fen%2Ficons%2Fmainframe%2F IBM themselves refer to the 1401 as a mainframe .... Joe On Wed, Dec 26, 2018 at 10:56 PM Joel C. Ewing <jcew...@acm.org> wrote: > Well, ... the IBM 1401 was built in a substantial frame; and in the > context cited it appears to have the only (hence surely the "main") > computer present. Other members of the same general family like IBM > 1410 were certainly regarded as a mainframe. I'm pretty sure any > computer large enough to require one or more dedicated frames was > called a "mainframe" in those days. When mini-computers first came out, > they weren't considered mainframes because they were typically only the > size of a single rack and could even be carried. > > With a recent MS in Comp Sci, I found myself in the U.S. Army 1969-1971 > (started in Infantry but ended up as head Company Clerk at HHC of "The > Old Guard" at Ft Myer VA). I remember reading some memo that came down > from above the Battalion suggesting the possibility of using a > punched-card-based system for maintaining and producing our Company > Roster. That might have involved an IBM 1401, but my impression at the > time was that the functions they were describing could easily have been > done with just unit-record equipment. Nothing ever came of it while I > was there. It would have saved us the periodic tedium of one or more > man-hours of manually typing up a new roster in which few names changed, > but given that our time was cheap and available, there would have been > no way to cost-justify using a process that would save our time but slow > down the overall process by requiring outside resources. Clearly, at > that time, punched card decks were one of the databases used for > tracking military personnel. > Joel C. Ewing > > On 12/26/18 2:42 PM, Seymour J Metz wrote: > > What is he smoking? Since when was the 1401 a mainframe? > > > > > > -- > > Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz > > http://mason.gmu.edu/~smetz3 > > > > ________________________________________ > > From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU> on > behalf of Mark Regan <marktre...@gmail.com> > > Sent: Wednesday, December 26, 2018 8:28 AM > > To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU > > Subject: How about a little Christmas fudge? | Computerworld Shark tank > > > > > https://secure-web.cisco.com/1iMlW_GZ2Scqioa5F4rqymcywO0OTBLBFOtYPuQZZF6F73Kv0x_B9nU3SOTiheXf32DsESHEBSvbzXuJ78Z2XaRKtXr7A2GITbjxnEDGjBqcDiOzF9WOIQCYJIH89nABmY7xso9DckpD3Q10YPvrxhvPVeFvR6IYMhBl0Po4k4-03fXnkJSammKYm3lrjMJyX4f-lcp9YlEt59dyzYTF_at6wT-i9VPdyfHx5DVlOyFFEzAQxZe-ifUcS7uOAE70lUB6w6ZfwDLRp9vhqQVEaCVSjXFSY0F4a2YhM92FII0XRqIAu4y7yW4Iop4TXQVM-iMQuqleDME3jgueepL3jXWQ797SaO4hRpNph47Gl9FOTKIqwIXeAe2DNqPGTQMlRexhctM6zHXZYT2EbywHPaw/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.computerworld.com%2Farticle%2F3330396%2Fapplication-development%2Fsituation-normal-all-fudged-up.html > > > > ... > > > > -- > Joel C. Ewing > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
