17 Mar
2010
17 Mar
'10
10:54 a.m.
Nice IBM sales video and stills:
http://gizmodo.com/5494858/ibm-305-ramac-the-grandaddy-of-modern-hard-drives
2006 (50th anniversary) article:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/46300
IBM's info:
http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/storage/storage_350.html
5 MB (approx.) for only $3,200/month ($24,978 in 2009 dollars)!
"Disks rotated at 1,200 rpm, tracks (20 to the inch) were recorded at up to 100 bits
per inch, and typical head-to-disk spacing was 800 microinches. The execution of a
"seek" instruction positioned a read-write head to the track that contained the
desired sector and selected the sector for a later read or write operation. Seek time
averaged about 600 milliseconds."
1:17 p.m.
Jos Dreesen wrote:
William Blair wrote:
See:
http://news.cnet.com/The-hard-drive-at-50/2009-1015_3-6112782.html
Had the pleasure of speaking with Jim Porter a couple years back.
In 1950s paper companies had higher technology perception than on
present day screen planet.
As stated in article, it was a technology showpiece. He said it also did
speed things up.
Fewer patch panels, cards, etc.
Steve
5 MB (approx.) for only $3,200/month ($24,978 in
2009 dollars)!
I wonder what use case would justify that kind of expense, or would
tape storage not have been that much cheaper ?
Jos 
1:41 p.m.
Jos Dreesen wrote:
William Blair wrote:
Well, keep in mind that's the rate for a 305 processing system, including a 350
storage unit, not just a 350 storage unit ('hard drive') (see
http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/650/650_pr2.html).
It actually sounds surprisingly good in comparison to rates for a 709 system,
5 MB (approx.) for only $3,200/month ($24,978 in
2009 dollars)!
I wonder what use case would justify that kind of expense, or would tape
storage not have been that much cheaper ? from the 1961 BRL report:
Monthly Rental,
average system: $55,200
(from: http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/BRL61-ibm0709.html)
It's not clear exactly what is included in these so there may be some apples
and oranges comparision there, but it gives you an idea of what big
organisations were willing to pay for some data processing in the period.
I've never heard much about the CPU for the 305 system - technical specs,
architecture description or how it compared with other contemporary IBM CPUs.
1:45 p.m.
On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 12:41 PM, Brent Hilpert <hilpert at cs.ubc.ca> wrote:
It actually sounds surprisingly good in comparison to
rates for a 709
system,
from the 1961 BRL report:
Monthly Rental, average system: $55,200
(from: http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/BRL61-ibm0709.html)
It's not clear exactly what is included in these so there may be some
apples
and oranges comparision there, but it gives you an idea of what big
organisations were willing to pay for some data processing in the period.
No wonder IBM thought a $6000 PC was a bargain.
brian
1:57 p.m.
Brian Lanning wrote:
Oh puhlease.
Peace... Sridhar
It actually
sounds surprisingly good in comparison to rates for a 709
system,
from the 1961 BRL report:
Monthly Rental, average system: $55,200
(from: http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/BRL61-ibm0709.html)
It's not clear exactly what is included in these so there may be some
apples
and oranges comparision there, but it gives you an idea of what big
organisations were willing to pay for some data processing in the period.
No wonder IBM thought a $6000 PC was a bargain. 
2:28 p.m.
On 3/17/10, Brent Hilpert <hilpert at cs.ubc.ca> wrote:
Jos Dreesen wrote:
I've never heard much about the CPU for the 305 system - technical specs,
architecture description or how it compared with other contemporary IBM
CPUs.
I don't have specific technical data at my fingertips, but
anecdotally, I worked for a guy whose father ran a 305 RAMAC in
Columbus, OH. The machine was at Columbus Coated Fabrics (think
"flocked wallpaper"), a division (eventually) of Borden Chemical
(think "milk, glue, scratch-n-sniff...") According to the stories, it
was the second computer in commercial use in Columbus.
-ethan
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