IBM mainframeIn 1964, IBM launched System/360, a familyof six mutually compatible computers and 40 peripherals that could work together. Many consider it the biggest business gamble of all time, yet the System/360 helped transform the government, science and commercial landscape. It introduced a number of industry standards to the marketplace, including the de facto worldwide standard of the 8-bit byte. The $5 billion investment by IBM paid off, and within two years orders for the System/360 reached 1,000 per month. Customers could choose from small to large, low to high performance, (nearly) all running the same command set, allowing customers to begin with a low-cost version of the family, and upgrade later. |
