by
Mark Ollig
Thomas
J. Watson Jr., President of IBM, revealed to its shareholders on April 29, 1952
the company was constructing “the most advanced, most flexible high-speed
computer in the world.”
What
later became the IBM 701 Electronic Data Processing Machine was first known
during its early development as the “Defense Calculator.”
It
was named this because in 1950, at the start of the Korean War, IBM’s chairman,
Thomas J. Watson Sr., had asked the US Government how his company could be of
assistance.
The
government’s reply to him was to ask IBM to build a large, scientific computer.
The
computer would need to be capable of designing aircraft, assisting in nuclear
development, engineering of armaments, performing calculations, and probably
other details yours truly is not privy to.
IBM
“put pencil to paper” and began designing this new computer in January 1951.
“We
convinced ourselves that by taking a giant step toward this far-out
high-performance machine, we and our customers would benefit in many ways,”
said Jerrier Haddad, who worked for IBM.
Haddad
was in charge of the technical and executive responsibilities for the 701
development and design program.
The
IBM 701 was constructed in IBM’s Poughkeepsie, NY plant, where its parts were
put together using production-line assembly techniques. It was the world’s
first mass-produced computer.
This
electronic digital computer had an input and output system, assorted memory
devices, digital arithmetic-processing components, and what I viewed to be a
well-organized, human-operator control center.
The
701 computer’s cabinet-bay wiring was neatly cabled using modular, pluggable
ends.
It
also had various physical devices for storing and retrieving information.
I
had not heard of using a cathode ray tube (CRT) for storing binary information,
until I read about the electrostatic data-storage system glass tubes used in
the 701 computer.
Memory
devices of the IBM 701 included 72 electrostatic data-storage “Williams-Kilburn
tubes,” capable of holding 1,024 bits each. This total of 73,728 bits had the
capacity of 2,048 words using 36-bits, when the logical wording address system
used two 18-bit words.
These
electrostatic tubes held the data/information as a “charge pattern.”
The
701 memory also used four magnetic-coated cylinder drums with a capacity of storing
81,920 digits.
The
magnetic-coated cylinder drum memory could read and write at 8,000 digits per
second.
In
addition, four cabinet bays, each equipped with magnetic-tape drive units, held
more than 8 million digits per individual tape-reel.
The
magnetic-tape unit’s read and write speed was 12,500 digits per second.
In
addition to vacuum tubes, several thousand germanium-diode electronic
components were used inside the IBM 701 computer system.
Output
information obtained from the IBM 701 could be sent to a paper printer at a
rate of 150 lines per minute.
As
far as processing capabilities, this circa 1951 IBM 701 computer performed
exceptionally well for this time period.
The
computer’s internal processing operations were performed using the binary
system; yes, those bits and bytes made up of 1’s and 0’s.
Information
from IBM’s 701 webpage states this computer could perform an average of 14,000
mathematical operations a second.
The
IBM 701 was managed from an operator’s control center panel using buttons,
keys, and switches for input instruction entry of the memory, accumulator, and
multiplier-quotient registers.
It
also had a lot of visual indicator activity lights.
Two
IBM power frames, and an IBM power distribution unit, provided the electricity
for the individual systems comprising the IBM 701 data processing computer.
April
of 1952, an IBM 701 development machine computing model was assembled in an IBM
office at Poughkeepsie, NY.
The
individual equipment cabinets were neatly arranged inside the office; I noted
the inter-machine cabinet cabling was smartly hidden from view.
Here
is a photo of the IBM 701 in the Poughkeepsie office:
http://tinyurl.com/mct2w67.
May
21, 1952 – 63 years ago this week – IBM branch managers were informed the
Defense Calculator would now be referred to as the IBM Electronic Data
Processing Machine.
There
were 19 commercial IBM 701 Electronic Data Processing Machines manufactured.
The
first shipped to IBM World Headquarters in New York, NY Dec. 20, 1952.
The
University of California, in Los Alamos, NM, received the second IBM 701
computer March 23, 1953. It processed hydrodynamic calculations.
Some
of the contractors and agencies receiving the IBM 701 included: Boeing,
Lockheed, the US Navy, General Electric, and the National Security Agency –
better known as the NSA.
Jan.
8, 1954, an IBM press release was written about Russian being translated into
English using an “electronic brain.” This electronic brain could translate
Russian to English onto an “automatic printer” at a speed of two-and-a-half
lines per second.
This
“electronic brain” was the IBM 701 computer.
The
IBM website has an archival page with photos of the 701 computer, and its
associated cabinet components at: http://tinyurl.com/lrms8u6.
The
last IBM 701 computer (assembled from spare parts) was shipped to the US
Weather Bureau in Washington, DC, Feb. 28, 1955.
