 The G15 pictured in a marketing brochure | |
| Developer | Harry Huskey |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Bendix Corporation |
| Type | computer |
| Release date | 1956 |
| Introductory price | US$49,500 (Base system without peripherals) |
| Discontinued | 1963 |
| Units sold | 400 |
| Dimensions | 5 by 3 by 3 ft (1.5m by 1m by 1m) |
| Mass | about 966 pounds (438 kg) |
The Bendix G-15 is a computer introduced in 1956[1][2][3] by the Bendix Corporation, Computer Division, Los Angeles, California. It is about 5 by 3 by 3 feet (1.52 m × 0.91 m × 0.91 m) and weighs about 966 pounds (438 kg).[4][5] The G-15 has a drum memory of 2,160 29-bit words, along with 20 words used for special purposes and rapid-access storage.[6] The base system, without peripherals, cost $49,500. A working model cost around $60,000 (equivalent to $672,411 in 2023).[7] It could also be rented for $1,485 per month. It was meant for scientific and industrial markets. The series was gradually discontinued when Control Data Corporation took over the Bendix computer division in 1963.
The chief designer of the G-15 was Harry Huskey, who had worked with Alan Turing on the ACE in the United Kingdom and on the SWAC in the 1950s. He made most of the design while working as a professor at Berkeley (where his graduate students included Niklaus Wirth), and other universities. David C. Evans was one of the Bendix engineers on the G-15 project. He would later become famous for his work in computer graphics and for starting up Evans & Sutherland with Ivan Sutherland.
- ^ Grieco, Joseph M. (1984). Between Dependency and Autonomy: India's Experience with the International Computer Industry. University of California Press. p. 57. ISBN 9780520048195.
- ^ *"Harry Huskey's Obituary on San Francisco Chronicle". San Francisco Chronicle.
- "New Products and Ideas: Electronic Roulette Demonstrates Computers" (PDF). Computers and Automation. 6 (3): 13. Mar 1957. Retrieved 2020-09-05.
- ^
- Kaisler, Stephen H. (2017). Birthing the Computer: From Drums to Cores. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 44. ISBN 9781443896252.
- "2. Bendix Aviation Corporation". Digital Computer Newsletter. 8 (2): 1–2. Apr 1956.
- "4. Digital Computer & Differential Analyzer Combination, Bendix Computer Division". Digital Computer Newsletter. 8 (4): 3–5. Oct 1956.
- ^ (850 + 965 + 1050 + 1000) / 4 = 966.25
850 lbs:
- "Bendix G-15 All Purpose Computer: Selling the Computer Revolution: Computer History Museum". www.computerhistory.org. p. 15. Retrieved 2018-06-08.
- "Index of /pdf/bendix/g-15". www.bitsavers.org. T10-3_G15_Tech_Bulletin_Apr60.pdf, p. 16; JH-039_G-15_Installation_Mar59.pdf, p. 4. Retrieved 2018-06-08.
- Weik, 1961
- ^ Weik 1961.
- ^ Bendix Computer Division. G15D Programmer's Reference Manual (PDF). p. 12. Retrieved Mar 6, 2020.
- ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.