If you think of IBM mainframe computers, you most likely are thinking of the iconic S/360 or the slightly newer S/370. But what about the 7070 from 1958? It had transistors! It didn’t, however, use binary. Instead, it was a decimal-architecture machine. You can see a lost video of the machine below.
It was originally slated to upgrade the older IBM 650 and 705 computers. However, it wasn’t compatible with either, so IBM had to roll out the IBM7080, which was compatible, at least, with the 705. Both machines could run 650 code via emulation.
Hardly a personal computer, this beast weighed over 23,000 pounds and cost a cool $813,000. Most companies leased it, though for a mere $17,400 a month. For that price, you got 5,000 words of core memory that could each hold ten decimal digits and a sign bit. The CPU ran at a stately 27 kHz. Hey, this was 1958, after all. One innovation was that card readers and printers connected to the computer through a “synchronizer” that buffered between the relatively fast CPU and the relatively slow devices.
The computer used 14,000 circuit cards containing around 30,000 germanium transistors and 22,000 germanium diodes. We imagine the power bill was worse than the monthly rent.
It seems the film’s audio isn’t present, but the modern narrator gives some context. If you like this old iron, don’t miss the video of the later IBM S/370 or learn how to use an 029 card punch.
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