General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

3

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

metal base, parts/ synthetic parts

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

63.5 cm

Width

36.0 cm

Height

40.5 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Computing Technology

Category

Digital peripheral devices

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

IBM

Country

United States of America

State/Province

Unknown

City

Unknown

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Quebec

Period

circa 1958+

Canada

An American made memory device used at McGill University in Montreal with an IBM 650 computer. IBM 650s were the first mass produced computer imported into Canada. 7 or 8 examples were purchased by Canadian universities. McGill purchased it IBM 650 circa. 1958. The history of the machine offered is not known. IBM was unable to provide any information based on the serial number. However, McGill acquired it from IBM (for exhibit and teaching purposes for their electrical engineering students) and there is a high probability that it was from a company in Montreal. Dave Thorpe was the Director of the Computing Centre at McGill when the 650 was acquired (he now lives in Brockville) and oversaw its installation in the late 50's. The university has a project going called History of Computing at McGill (HoCaM) being directed by Dr. Gerald Ratzer, which may in time provide more information. They are trying to document the main milestones and capture as much of the history from the people like Howard Heitner and Ratzer that have been at McGill for some 40 years.

Function

The data storage device or memory of a computer, in which instructions & data are stored magnetically.

Technical

IBM's first commercial machine was the 701, first shipped in 1953 and with a grand total of 19 machines manufactured. The following year IBM introduced the 650, the first mass-produced computer, with the company selling 450 in one year. IBM wanted a computer that was capable of performing arithmetic, storing data, processing instructions & providing suitable read-write speeds at reasonable cost & the magnetic drum memory was seen as the answer to the speed & storage problems. Data & instructions were stored in the form of magnetized spots on the surface of a drum four inches in diameter & 16 inches long, which rotated 12,500 times per minute. The drum memory could hold 20,000 digits at 2,000 separate addresses. The development of the 701 and 650 by IBM was driven by the Korean War and were expedited as a result of the lessons learned in the early development of the SAGE for the US Air Force. The 650s commercial success (despite the $500,000 price tag) surprised the IBM senior management and had a dramatic effect on the direction of their successor computers and the company in general. The fact that it was programmed in decimal rather than binary also made it more attractive to non-computer geeks.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

black lettering on brushed metal strip on front panel reads "IBM/ TYPE 650 MAGNETIC DRUM DATA PROCESSING MACHINE"/ blue lettering on label on back panel reads "IBM/ TRADE -MARK/ TYPE 650/ MAGNETIC DRUM/ DATA PROCESSING MACHINE/ U.S. PATENT NUMBERS/ 2,282,066 2,528,3?? 2,637,811/ OTHER PATENTS PENDING/ THIS MACHINE IS LICENSED/ UNDER U.S. PATENT NUMBERS/ 2,540,654 2,???,813 2,619,454/ 2,587,532 2,617,705/ MADE IN U.S.A." with two additional trademarks on label reading "BUSINESS/ INTERNATIONAL / MACHINES/ TRADE-MARK" & "International/ TRADE-MARK"

Missing

operator's console table

Finish

textured grey painted casing panels/ black painted panels/ multicoloured synthetic

Decoration

indented chrome trim on side panels along bottom edge& 1/4 down from top edge