23 Jul
2001
23 Jul
'01
5:06 p.m.
I read it again today, and might have been slightly
mistaken as to the
"3030" definition, although there was a "3330". Here's what the
book says:
OK, no problem.
During the late 1960s and 1970s, IBM had a numbering system they *mostly*
used - 23xx series were disks and drums in the whole 2xxx series of S/360
equipment*, and the 33xx series were the same, just "bumped up" 1000 when
the S/370s came out. For some reason, the 33xx series remained valid
until the 1990s (many 3390s are still in service, even some 3380s).
*For example, 20xx and 21xx are Processors, 22xx are terminals, 23xx are
disks, 24xx are tapes, 25xx are card machines, 26xx are paper tape
machines (few used), 27xx are communications things, 28xx are control
units, and 29xx are RPQs (custom units). For some reason, printers did
not generally follow this rule.
All in all, its a DAMN good book, and one of my
favorite reads. I
found the earlier book to be not as "interesting", but at least I got
a copy of it ("IBM's Early Computers") off eBay after 3 years of looking..
I paid a good buck for mine new, so you can guess how I feel about the
book. Anyway, it can be had cheaper with some looking on bookfinder.
William Donzelli
aw288(a)osfn.org