IBM 7000 series
The IBM 7000 series was IBM's second generation of computers. Instead of the vacuum tubes used in the earlier IBM 700 series for the logic, all the members of the 7000 series used discrete transistors. Main memory remained the core memory of the earlier machines, but larger and faster.
At this point in time, computers for scientific and business computing were still using separate instruction sets, so there were still two independent lines of models; in addition, a third line, intended as a low-end business-oriented successor to the drum main memory machines (IBM 650. etc), was added:
| Scientific | Commercial | Low-end |
|---|---|---|
| IBM 7090 | IBM 7080 | IBM 7070 |
| IBM 7094 | IBM 7074 | |
| IBM 7072 |
but in general the instruction sets were compatible within each line, and with those of the earlier 700 series machines. All were eventually replaced by the IBM System/360.
The IBM 7030 Stretch, although not part of an existing line, was effectively a 7000 series machine; much of technology used in the others was pioneered by the 7030, including the Standard Modular System cards used to build them all.
Further reading
- Charles J. Bashe, Lyle R. Johnson, John H. Palmer, Emerson W. Pugh, IBM's Early Computers, MIT Press, Cambridge, 1986
