Since it's Friday, would anyone care to contribute an opinion, or just an item for the list?
(I've been asked to give an informal talk to a small group of enthusiasts. The idea is to look at where we've come from, where we are now, and take a few guesses at what's next). Off the top of my head, IBM either innovated, or helped to promote in a big way, things we take for granted :- . 1401, the first big stored program computer . 1403 a fast chain printer ' FORTRAN, which I think was one of the first high level language compilers . s/360 (and family) with its flexible & compatible architecture . Hard disc drives (was RAMAC the first?) . DRAM . byte-addressable storage (rather than only being able to address word-by-word) . 8 bits in a byte . word sizes a power of 2 . long term compatibility, where a 1970s program will still run and assemble/compile . 3270 data stream protocol, an efficient way to drive displays without flooding the network with unnecessary data, and still used today in tn3270. . the ATM (Automated Teller Machine, for the avoidance of doubt!). Lloyds Bank asked, and IBM delivered it (in UK, I think) Have I blundered? Roops :-) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
