Posted on Sep 14, 2021
The IBM 305 RAMAC, the First Computer with a Hard Drive: $10,000 per Megabyte : History of...
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On September 14, 1956, IBM introduced the RAMAC 305, the first commercial computer with a hard drive that used magnetic disk storage. It weighed over a ton. An excerpt from the article:
"On September 14, 1956, at IBM's Glendale Laboratory in Endicott, New YorkOffsite Link, IBM demonstrated the 305 RAMACOffsite Link (Random Access Method of Accounting and Control) Magnetic Drum Data Processing Machine. The machine used a series of IBM 355 disk memory unitsOffsite Link. Also in September 1956 the machine was demonstrated at the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission exhibit at the Atoms for Peace Conference in Geneva.
"The first hard disk unit was shipped September 13, 1956.[6]Offsite Link The additional components of the computer were a card punch, a central processing unit, a power supply unit, an operator's console/card reader unit, and a printer. There was also a manual inquiry station that allowed direct access to stored records. IBM touted the system as being able to store the equivalent of 64,000 punched cardsOffsite Link."
"On September 14, 1956, at IBM's Glendale Laboratory in Endicott, New YorkOffsite Link, IBM demonstrated the 305 RAMACOffsite Link (Random Access Method of Accounting and Control) Magnetic Drum Data Processing Machine. The machine used a series of IBM 355 disk memory unitsOffsite Link. Also in September 1956 the machine was demonstrated at the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission exhibit at the Atoms for Peace Conference in Geneva.
"The first hard disk unit was shipped September 13, 1956.[6]Offsite Link The additional components of the computer were a card punch, a central processing unit, a power supply unit, an operator's console/card reader unit, and a printer. There was also a manual inquiry station that allowed direct access to stored records. IBM touted the system as being able to store the equivalent of 64,000 punched cardsOffsite Link."
The IBM 305 RAMAC, the First Computer with a Hard Drive: $10,000 per Megabyte : History of...
Posted from historyofinformation.com
World History
American History
Computers
Programming
Posted 3 y ago
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Cut my teeth on the IBM computer that ran the FB-111 simulator. Can't tell you how many hours spent on the card cutting machine then running the program then cutting more cards to try to fix problems.
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SGT (Join to see)
Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen CWO4 Terrence Clark Remember when your utility bills were sent on punch cards? What is amazing is that a single modern cellphone has more technology and information than those older computers
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Maj (Join to see)
SGT (Join to see) - The distance we've come is what always gets me. So much power in the palm of our hands compared to what took up an entire room only a few decades ago.
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Thanks for posting. Being a computer nerd, I love this kind of history. I'm not as... "seasoned" as some of the folks commenting, but I do appreciate experiencing what I did in the 80s and 90s and using that to teach folks today how far we've come. I do have a "souvenir" punch card that I picked up from my last TDY to a PARCS radar site. I keep that along with my 8" floppy, and copies of CP/M and DOS v1.2.
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