IBM 702

IBM 702 system: From left to right, CRT memory, 702 CPU, 717 printer, operator's console, 757 printer control unit, 752 tape control unit, five 727 tape drives, 732 drum storage, five 727 tape drives, card reader, card punch, and reader/punch control units.

The IBM 702 was an early generation tube-based digital computer produced by IBM in the early to mid-1950s. It was the company's response to Remington Rand's UNIVAC, which was the first mainframe computer to use magnetic tapes. As these machines were aimed at the business market, they lacked the leading-edge computational power of the IBM 701 and ERA 1103, which were favored for scientific computing,[1] weather forecasting, the aircraft industry, and the military and intelligence communities.

Within IBM, the 702 was notable for adapting the new technology of magnetic-core memory for random-access applications.

The 702 was announced September 25, 1953, and withdrawn[2] October 1, 1954, but the first production model was not installed until July 1955.[3][4] It was superseded by the IBM 705.

  1. ^ Pugh, Emerson W.; Johnson, Lyle R.; Palmer, John H. (1991). IBM's 360 and Early 370 Systems. MIT Press. pp. 26–27. ISBN 0-262-16123-0.
  2. ^ Yates, JoAnne (May 17, 2005). Structuring the Information Age: Life Insurance and Technology in the Twentieth Century. JHU Press. p. 161. ISBN 9780801880865.
  3. ^ Bashe, Charles J.; Johnson, Lyle R.; Palmer, John H.; Pugh, Emerson W. (1985). IBM's Early Computers. MIT Press. pp. 176–178. ISBN 0-262-02225-7.
  4. ^ Pugh, Emerson W.; Johnson, Lyle R.; Palmer, John H. (1991). IBM's 360 and Early 370 Systems. MIT Press. pp. 25–26. ISBN 0-262-16123-0. IBM 702 1954.