4 Mar
2006
4 Mar
'06
2:55 p.m.
"Chuck Guzis" <cclist at sydex.com> wrote:
On my wandering around, I found the following claims
on the Unisys
"history" web page (http://www.unisys.com/about__unisys/history/index.htm):
"1993 Unisys introduces 2200/500, the first mainframe based on
complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology."
Wasn't the ETA-10 CMOS-based? (Not to mention the whole subject of
"What's a mainframe?")
But the ETA-10 was by very few standards a "mainframe". It was clearly
a supercomputer. Not aimed at (for example) payroll by any means!
"1989 Unisys introduces Micro A, the first
desktop, single-chip mainframe."
I don't know what to make of that claim. What's a mainframe. From what I
can gather, the Micro A was pretty much a plug-in coprocessor PCB in an
otherwise x86 box that booted OS/2.
As to "what's a mainframe", as Unisys uses the term it's a computer
used for "traditional" business purposes (financial/payroll/purchasing/
invoicing), probably running dusty-deck COBOL programs.
Tim.