9 Nov
2020
9 Nov
'20
8:26 p.m.
On Sun, Nov 8, 2020 at 11:36 PM Greg 'groggy' Lehey <grog(a)lemis.com>
wrote:
The golfball console for the /360 was much earlier
than that, like the /360
itself.
Hmmm, I think what I said is correct. The S/360 system was released in
1964. My friend Russ Roebling (360/50 chief designer ) once told me the
console came from the office products (typewriter) division. I wish I
could remember the story he told me, but IIRC it was something WRT to
politics inside of IBM and ensuring the console device and the 360's launch
between the divisions. [Just like every large firm I have worked, I'm not
really surprised to hear that divisional fiefdoms were rampant at IBM in
those days, too].
I'm fairly sure that the Selectric (I) was early1960s (I think 61/62). I
just don't remember the model number of the S/360's console (every device
at IBM had numeric names), your memory is likely that the number was 7xy.
But as I said, I'm fair sure that the guts of the console were based on
the Selectric's design.