IBM 60

From: Al Kossow <aek(a)spies.com> Date: 2003/08/29 Fri PM 11:01:21 EDT To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org Subject: Re: IBM 60 The IBM 360/60 was never really a product.. try again. -- The original lineup was the 30, 40, 50, 60, 62, and 70, with a vague promise of a 92. The 60 and 62 were the same CPU (2060), but different core-memory units (2360 and 2362). The 70 used hardware similar to the 60 and 62, but was all hard-wired, with no microprogramming, and used the superior 2362 core. The original S/360's took a long time to be delivered, and, a year later, some of the hardware specs were no longer competitive. The 60 was dropped altogether, and the 62 and 70 were replaced by the 65 and 75. Out of them all, only one 62 was ever shipped to a customer. At the same time, the 92 was dropped, to be replaced by a vague promise of a "90 series", later realized in the 91, 95, and 195. It was also about this time that the original 2.0-microsecond 30, with lights in the front like the other 360's, was largely superseded by the 1.5-microsecond 75(1), with lights behind a flat panel like a 1401; though the 76.-microsecond version was never officially discontinued, and was shipped in large enough numbers that there were 2.0-microsecond 22's offered (the 22's were reconditioned 30's, offered while the 370/115 and 77/125 were not yet ready), it was rare (I never saw one). But in the meantime, the need for large-scale timesharing had resulted in the announcement of virtual-memory versions of the 60 and 62, to be called the 64 and 66. As part of the same restructuring, these were withdrawn a month after they were announced, to be replaced with the 67. Of the original April, 1964, 360's, only the 40 and 50 ended up being shipped in large numbers.