27 Oct
2004
27 Oct
'04
6:22 a.m.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: David Forbes
I was reading that 1961 BRL survey, and found the user reports
of the IBM 701 fascinating. They apparently had an average
uptime of about 2-4 hours. That doesn't seem like much by
today's standards, but then how often does Windows crash on you?
The amazing thing is how much they paid per calculation. $50,000
rental per month for a typical installation at 500 multiplies per
second is about 10,000 multiplies per dollar! We seem to get a
better price these days with a typical PC. It's about a trillion
multiplies per dollar, which is a factor of 100 million better.
--
--David Forbes, Tucson, AZ
http://www.cathodecorner.com/