IBM 7074 and then some: "Systems we love" conference

[Chuck Guzis]

On 01/24/2017 07:55 PM, Jon Elson wrote:

> Well, they were all built using SMS card technology, and a few
> pictures seem to show very similar backplane setup. I didn't know the
> 7070 was the first of that generation.  While the first 7030 was
> delivered after the 7070, development of the Stretch probably started
> first.

Yup, I was going by delivery dates.  "If you can't deliver it, it
doesn't exist".  IIRC, Gene Amdahl and friends originally proposed a
design using point-contact transistors (trying to get a uniform batch of
those was "interesting").  The proposal died a couple of times, until
IBM pitched what was then vaporware to LANL (then LASL).  Development
was started in 1956, according to WikiP.

Given that the whole SMS thing was the common denominator among the 7000
and 1400 and 1620 lines, it's hard to say who was first.  But the 7070
was first delivered.

--Chuck