On 01/23/2017 12:25 PM, Paul Koning wrote: > >> On Jan 23, 2017, at 2:16 PM, Chuck Guzis <ccl...@sydex.com> wrote: >> >> On 01/23/2017 11:00 AM, Steven Maresca wrote: >>> Just wanted to share an excerpted story just sent to me by a >>> colleague, regarding an IBM 7074 supplying data to Java >>> middleware, ultimately feeding a modern webapp stack: >>> http://thenewstack.io/happens-use-java-1960-ibm-mainframe/ >> >> The 7074 was referred to as a "supercomputer". Can any decimal >> machine really bear that title? > > I suppose it could. I would apply the term to a computer that's the > fastest out there by a fair margin, and uses innovative or > distinctive bits of architecture to make it so. A CDC 6600 clearly > qualifies on that basis, as do the Cray 1 and the ILLIAC IV. I've > heard the IBM Stretch mentioned as well, I don't know it enough to > comment. It seems hard to imagine that a decimal machine could > overcome the inherent disadvantages of being decimal so successfully > that it can reach supercomputer status, but in theory I suppose it > might be possible.
The 7070/74 was just a member of the 7000 line. The 7030 STRETCH and even the 7090/94 were both binary and far faster. It's just that I bridle a bit when hearing the young 'uns refer to any physically large machine as a "supercomputer". It's the same feeling that I get when I see press releases today that relate that David Gelernter single-handedly developed the parallel computation. He's not old enough; at 61, he was still in high school during the ILLIAC IV era. Now, get off of my lawn! --Chuck