Bill McDermith wrote:
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "James B. DiGriz" <jbdigriz_at_dragonsweb.org>
> To: <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
> Sent: Thursday, April 04, 2002 11:40 AM
> Subject: Re: Computers Manufactured in 1986^H^H56
>
>
>
>>Stan Barr wrote:
>>
>>>Hi,
>>>
>>>"James L. Rice" <jrice_at_texoma.net> said;
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>Just out of curiosity, what was available in 1954? I probably coulfdn't
>>>>afford the power and a/c for all of the vacuum tubes.
>>>
>>>
>>>The Ferranti Mercury for one.
>>>
>>
> ...snip...snip...snip...
>
> Why I was speculating about the IBM 650...
>
> According to http://members.iinet.net.au/~dgreen/timeline.html:
>
> Year System Manufacturer Total Average
> Installations Cost per
> in the US System $
>
> 1954 MAGNEFILE B Electronics Corp. of America
> 1 20,000
> JOHNNIAC The Rand Corporation 1
> DYSEAC US Dept of Commerce 1
> ALWAC II Alwac Computer Division, Hawthorne 2 50,000
> CIRCLE Hogan Laboratories Inc. 2 80,000
> MODAC 5014 Airborne Instruments Laboratory 1 85,000
> MODAC 404 Airborne Instruments Laboratory 1 100,000
> BENDIX D12 Bendix n.a. 55,000
> BURROUGHS 204, Burroughs 112 200,000
> & 205
> IBM 650 RAMAC IBM 1500 182,000
> LGP 30 General Precision 462 49,500
> (Librascope Division)
> 1
> WISC Univ. of Wisconsin 1
>
>
>
I'm not sure if you're replying to me here, but I did find a picture of
the TRIDAC. It occupied a couple of buildings and included it's own
generating plant. Reminds me of the old satellite tracking station in
Rosman, NC., except smaller. Haven't figured out what all the pumps and
"synthetic gimbals" are for, but even if the electronics were
transistorized, it could pull some amps. Enough for several dozen 650's,
probably.
http://www.science.uva.nl/faculteit/museum/biganalog.html
jbdigriz
Received on Thu Apr 04 2002 - 14:59:30 BST