Status: publiek -- Laatste wijziging: 14 oktober 2010

One of the first computers in Belgium: IBM Ramac 305

Augustus 2010 I got a question by mail "Guess what this is?"

The solution:

It is a hard drive from 1956 ... 5MB of storage space!
In September 1956 IBM launched the 305 RAMAC, the first 'super' computer with a hard disk drive (HDD). 
The hard drive weighed over a ton with a 5MB of data storage!
Think of your 8 GB Memory Stick now, or an iPhone with 32 GB of memory 3GS ...

Although the random access disk was an important component the IBM 305 RAMAC was a complete computer (then called Random Access Method for Accounting and Control).
The "Searching San Jose: The RAMAC story" explains its design and development (started in 1952).
This film was produced by IBM in the sixties and shows

the creation of the computer was decided in 1951
design started in 1952
is this a penguin ?
files, filing cabinets, crossfiling i.e the problem
solution: the magnetic disk with random access
now engineering has to make it
disk painting itself
RAMAC 305A, the first working model, in action
production
RAMAC on tour

You should also look at people's dress code, cars and trucks, showing a different era.

The film "IBM 305 RAMAC" is a commercial explaining the product. It shows:

a beautifully designed machine ;-)
with printed output
punched card input
miracle memory (a magnetic drum, but design was done with magnetic disks)
core memory
disk blocks of 100 characters, access time 6/10 sec.
wired control panel (who did program these ?)
directly connected printer 80 lines/minute
manual enquiry station (direct access to record on disk)

Now why is this probably the first computer operating in Belgium ?
In 1958 on the Brussels World Exposition a RAMAC was shown.
Visitors could give a date (before 1958), the date was entered using the "manual enquiry station" and the visitor got a printed paper explaining what happened on that date.

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