IBM System/3 disk packs...

From: William Donzelli <william_at_ans.net>
Date: Mon May 25 15:39:43 1998

> I got a few disk packs (RL02-style thingies) from an IBM System/3 (What's
> that?)

The S/3s are interesting machines, in that they went against the grain IBM
set up with the S/360s. The idea of the S/360s was to unify IBMs product
line, eliminating a bunch of completely non-interchangeable machines. One
of the families to fall was the 1400 series, basically very simple
machines made to replace punched card equipment. The S/360s, however, were
overkill for such an applications - even the stripped down S/360 Model 20.
IBM decided to spin off a new product line, using S/360 (and 370)
technology to make an updated 1400 box. They did, coming out with the S/3s
in the very early 1970s.

> Any chance of reading these on my PDP-11?
> One has the label SYSGEN on it...

Probably not. Just do not destroy the disk packs (or reformat them), as I
am sure they are far more rare that RL02 packs.

> Anyone else capable of reading these?

Does anyone have an S/3? I heard there was one in Canada, as well as one
in Great Britain.

William Donzelli
william_at_ans.net
Received on Mon May 25 1998 - 15:39:43 BST