The IBM System/360 Revolution

[Recorded April 7, 2004]
Computer pioneers and National Medal of Technology awardees Erich Bloch, Fred Brooks, Jr. and Bob Evans with current IBM technology chief Nick Donofrio discuss the extraordinary IBM System/360 project.

IBM launched the System/360 on April 7, 1964. Many consider it the biggest business gamble of all time. At the height of IBM's success, Thomas J. Watson, Jr. bet the company's future on a new compatible family of computer systems that would help revolutionize modern organizations. This lecture presents a behind-the-scenes view of the tough decisions made by some of the people who made them, and discusses how the System/360 helped transform the government, science and commercial landscape.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Computer
• History
• IBM
• System
• 360
• Technology
• Mainframe

[simonodell]

Do you have any information on the Atari2600 ^^

[ComputerHistory]

Information on the Atari 2600 is available on the Computer History Museum website.

[mukmuklabuguen]

I must be a terrible geek for liking this stuff too.

[linuxluver]

I was a systems programmer on the System 370 mainframes. I just missed the system 360 models. In 1983, we still had some punch card equipment around supporting legacy applications.

[anitalc1]

Born same day as I was!

[dimbulb23]

It was fun and challenging work and I'm proud to have been part of it.

But boring to listen to.

IBM '68-'98

[VOYTASNY]

USA Spend to much time IBM long time go have computer 64 bits and 128 bits Microsoft 32 bits Os for long time They should have ( 94 95 96-32bits) (97 98 99-32/64bits) (2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 -64bits) ( 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010-128bits) CPU

[Membrane556]

These machines pioneered 90% of the features we take for granted in 32/64 bit microprocessors today.

[jtel]

Thanks for making this video available.

[GrnScrn]

I love this statement that Fred Brooks makes regarding JCL, OS/360 job control language is the worst programming language ever designed anywhere by anybody for any purposeand it was done under my management.

[cobrachoppergirl]

Choke on your EBDIC!

[cobrachoppergirl]

F! the 360 in their glass cages guarded by alcolytes in white lab coats. h@X0r5 rule. PDP forever. Maybe the 360 popularized the 8 bit byte on 9 track tape, but its the haxors that busted computers out of that cage and put them into the hands of you, or you wouldn't be reading this or watching this video today. FIBM

[lostinxlation]

S/360 and 370 are big daddys of all the today's computer.

Cache, Virtual memory system, out-of-order exec(Tomasulo's) are first implemented on them.

[cumberland67]

Alas, I started writing FORTRAN for the IBM 7040--the series before the 360. The 7040 had 32K (36-bit) words, tape drives, no disks. It was beautiful.