Early 360 machines (Was: Front panel switches - what did they do?)

[Chuck Guzis]

On 05/25/2016 03:31 PM, Noel Chiappa wrote:

> Those printers had an amazingly long life! They were first introduced
> in 1959 with the 1401 computer, and, like I said, the brand spanking
> new System 3 they got in ca. 1976 came with one! I wonder when IBM
> stopped producing them?

One of the lesser-known stories is that up until the 512 printer, CDC
offered drum printers (501 mostly) for high-speed printing.  They were
desperate to get a train printer on the market, but the prototypes would
not last more than a few minutes before the print train flew apart.

Somehow, they got hold of a 1403N1 and essentially took the print
mechanism to pieces to learn its secrets.  I don't know if the 1403 ever
worked right after that...

--Chuck