IBM 701
| IBM 701 | |
| Manufacturer: | International Business Machines |
|---|---|
| Year Announced: | April, 1952 |
| Year Design Started: | February, 1951 |
| Year First Shipped: | December, 1952 |
| Year Discontinued: | June, 1954 |
| Form Factor: | mainframe |
| Word Size: | 18 or 36 bits |
| Logic Type: | vacuum tubes |
| Instruction Speed: | 60 μsec (basic add) 456 μsec (multiply) |
| Predecessor(s): | IBM 604 |
| Successor(s): | IBM 704 |
| Price: | US$15,000/month (rental only) |
The IBM 701 (initially known as the IBM Defense Calculator) was IBM's first commercial computer; it was later described as being "key to IBM's transition from punched-card machines to electronic computers". It was a vacuum tube scientific mainframe (built at a time when computers were generally only used for scientific, and not business, computing).
It was announced in April, 1952. 19 were produced (18 by June, 1954, when production ended; the last was a later special order for use in weather forecasting by the US government).
It was a fairly modern machine in architectual terms, compared to its close contemporary, the IBM 650; it was parallel, not serial, and it used binary internally. It used Williams tube electrostatic cathode ray tubes for main memory; each tube held 1K bits, and a bank contained 36 tubes. Configurations could have either one or two banks.
Secondary storage included up to 4 drums, each holding 2048 long-words, capable of transferring 800 words/second. A system included four magnetic tape drives, using 1/2" plastic tape; the first magnetic tape on a computer.
Other peripherals included a printer, and punched card reader and punch.
Further reading
- Charles J. Bashe, Lyle R. Johnson, John H. Palmer, Emerson W. Pugh, IBM's Early Computers, MIT Press, Cambridge, 1986
External links
- IBM 701 - IBM Archive page
