
Rebuilding the IBM 1401 - pieceofpeace
http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/hardware/rebuilding-the-ibm-1401
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pg
The first computer I used. You could see each bit of memory with the naked
eye: little metal donuts strung on wire grids.

<http://members.optushome.com.au/intaretro/1401Core-9L.jpg>

Though the CPU was feeble by present standards, peripheral devices like the
card reader and printer were already quite evolved, and were very impressive
for mechanical devices. The printer could print letters so fast that the pitch
was a high whine.

Computers were not seen then quite the way they are now. It was almost as if
the CPU was something that combed the data on its way from card reader to
printer. That's why they called what they now call IT "data processing" then.

(IIRC it's had 3 names so far: DP, then MIS, then IT.)

~~~
russell
My first was an IBM 7094, but over in a corner was a trusty 1401 which was
used to copy card decks of programs onto tape for the 7094 to execute. The
output tapes were carried back to the 1401 for printing.

The 1401 was a marvel of simplicity. Pressing the start button would read one
card from the card reader and start executing the code on the card. The boot
card would read the rest of the boot program from the card reader and you were
ready to go.

~~~
MaysonL
1401 machine language was my first assembly language experience - I wrote a
one card card deck duplicator and a one card card deck printer. Those
photographs bring back memories - I can hear the printer playing _The Star-
Spangled Banner_.

------
fpgeek
The computer history museum is wonderful. For all that our field of endeavor
is (relatively) young, the museum makes it clear that we already have a rich,
varied and illuminating history.

