Produced a revolution in data processing and starred in a movie: who will get the collectible IBM 7090 mainframe

A computer weighing 10 tons and a cart with instructions

The specimen put up for auction is part of the collection of Paul G. Allen, co-founder of Microsoft. In 2017, he acquired the mainframe from the Defense Science and Technology Organization in South Australia.

The lot includes not only the IBM 7090 itself, but also many components and documentation:

• IBM 7151 control console with an IBM 7155 switch control console attached to the side

• IBM 711 card reader

• Two IBM 7617 data channel consoles

• IBM 7608 power converter

• 13 IBM 729 magnetic tape units

• IBM 1401 mainframe

• IBM 7302 memory core

• IBM 7606 multiplexer

• IBM 7108 instruction processing unit

• IBM 7109 arithmetic unit

• IBM 7607 I data channel

• IBM 7607 II data channel

• IBM 7618 power control unit

• IBM 1403 printer

• IBM 1402 card reader

• IBM 716 printer

• Cart with operating instructions

• Archive boxes with punch cards

• Three boxes of archive folders with user manuals

• 12 archive boxes with printouts

The auction winner will receive a system weighing almost 10.5 tons. What the lucky owner of the rare mainframe will do with such a machine, and most importantly, where to place it, remains a mystery. Perhaps collectors, exhibition centers, or film companies will be interested in the historical artifact. In any case, bids are already being placed with the auction organizers.

Dinosaur of the digital age: the first transistor mainframe

The historic 7090 mainframe was released by IBM in 1959. This event marked the beginning of a revolution in computer computing.

Its main difference from the IBM 709, which operated on bulky vacuum tubes, was the use of transistors. This allowed its creators to achieve a leap in server efficiency and performance. And to reduce the floor space used for system installation by 50%.

The mainframe used 36-bit words and had an address space of 32 kilobytes. It was six times faster than its predecessor, the IBM 709. In one second, the IBM 7090 could perform 39.5 thousand multiplication operations, 32.7 thousand division operations, or 229 thousand addition or subtraction operations.

IBM 7090 was a pioneer of its era, setting a new standard for computing speed. The ability to quickly solve floating-point problems made it an invaluable tool for scientists and engineers, including in the aerospace and nuclear industries. For example, in 1960, according to IBM, four 7090 mainframes were part of the U.S. Air Force's ballistic missile warning system.

In 1961, programmers Carol Lockbaum and John Kelly made the IBM 7090 perform the song Daisy Bell — the first in history to be sung by a computer.

The success of the 7090 demonstrated the potential of transistor computing systems and strengthened IBM's leadership in the mainframe market. Throughout the 1960s, its influence was felt in many areas, driving innovation and shaping the future of computing technology. By the way, starting with the 7090, industrial computers began to be stored in secure rooms with restricted access.

The architectural principles laid down in the IBM 7090 influenced the IBM System/360 series, which was introduced in the mid-1960s. Special attention was paid to compatibility and scalability — central concepts in the 7090's design philosophy.

Despite its historical significance, the once revolutionary IBM 7090 mainframe today lags behind even a smartphone in terms of performance. The processors of modern gadgets surpass the computing power of the IBM 7090 by thousands or even millions of times. Not to mention modern mainframes.

If the IBM 7090 had 50,000 transistors, the IBM z16 already has 22,000,000,000, and unlike its predecessor, it is capable of processing 300 billion logical operations per day with a latency of 1 ms.

The historical role of the IBM 7090: mainframe in movies and in life

The IBM 7090 was announced on December 30, 1958, and withdrawn on July 14, 1969. It still remains a symbol of the rapid technological progress of the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Have you seen the movie "Hidden Figures"? It perfectly shows how the era of computer calculations began and what role the IBM 7090 played in this, which repeatedly appears on the screen. At the center of the plot is the story of three brilliant women scientists who conduct a series of mathematical calculations for NASA. But technicians of all levels can see in this picture the signs of the time when the world was just beginning to transition from manual calculations to electronic ones.

NASA was indeed one of the first government agencies in the United States to adopt IBM's latest technology. Until then, the agency relied on people armed with calculators for computations. They manually performed complex calculations that allowed them to determine, for example, where a space capsule would land so that the US Navy could be close enough to retrieve it before it sank.

By 1960, two mainframes were being used at their Space Flight Center. And a year later, mathematician Michael Minovitch used the IBM 7090 to solve the three-body problem. His calculations were used to create the launch program for NASA's automated stations.

In 1961, when the events of the film take place, there were only a few thousand electronic computers on the planet: few people knew how to make the machine work, and even getting it into a room was a problem, as the computer would not fit through the doorway. All these difficulties of the transition from manual to electronic computing are well shown in the film.

According to IBM's archival data, in those years a server could be purchased for 2.9 million US dollars or rented for 63.5 thousand dollars per month. Now its cost is estimated at 40-60 thousand dollars.

Write in the comments what IT relic you would buy for such money?