IBM's 360 and Early 370 Systems (History of Computing) by Emerson W. Pugh

by Emerson W. Pugh

No new product offering has had greater impact on the computer industry than the IBM System/360. IBM's 360 and Early 370 Systems describes the creation of this remarkable system and the developments it spawned, including its successor, System/370. The authors tell how System/360's widely-copied architecture came into being and how IBM failed in an effort to replace it ten years later with a bold development effort called FS, the Future System. Along the way they detail the development of many computer innovations still in use, among them semiconductor memories, the cache, floppy disks, and Winchester disk files. They conclude by looking at issues involved in managing research and development and striving for product leadership. While numerous anecdotal and fragmentary accounts of System/360 and System/370 development exist, this is the first comprehensive account, a result of research into IBM records, published reports, and interviews with over a hundred participants. Covering the period from about 1960 to 1975, it highlights such important topics as the gamble on hybrid circuits, conception and achievement of a unified product line, memory and storage developments, software support, unique problems at the high end of the line, monolithic integrated circuit developments, and the trend toward terminal-oriented systems. System/360 was developed during the transition from discrete transistors to integrated circuits at the crucial time when the major source of IBM's revenue was changed from punched-card equipment to electronic computer systems. As the authors point out, the key to the system's success was compatibility among its many models. So important was this to customers that System/370 and its successors have remained compatible with System/360. Many companies in fact chose to develop and market their own 360-370 compatible systems. System/360 also spawned an entire industry dedicated to making plug-compatible products for attachment to it. The authors, all affiliated with IBM Research, are coauthors of IBM's Early Computers, a critically acclaimed technical history covering the period before 1960.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Computer Science

Paperback

First published January 4, 1991

About the author

Emerson W. Pugh (born 1 May 1929) is an American research engineer and scientist, whose career at US corporation IBM spanned several decades and resulted in significant technological advances. He was a leader in magnetic and computer memory technologies and author of several books, including college-level physics textbooks and the history of IBM. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was President of IEEE in 1989.

Reviews

[Brian Page · Rating 3 out of 5]

IBM’s 360 and Early 370 Systems by Emerson W. Pugh, Lyle R. Johnson, and John H. Palmer is a feat of immense scholarship. Unfortunately, they got the title wrong. It should be: A Strongly Internalist Corporate History of IBM During the System/360 Years, an approach perhaps not surprising since all three authors are former IBM employees. I came to the book with a background in computer hardware architecture and operating system design and, while there is not a frightening lack of technical details, the overall emphasis is on the project management and executive actions associated with bringing the most successful computer architecture of the 1960s, 70s, 80s, and even the 1990s to market. The 642 pages of reading also suffer from the multiple author syndrome of much repetition, particularly around the continuous reorganizations and personnel shuffles that senior IBM management used to address challenges.

The level of detail is awesome to behold and is supported by the 112 pages of footnotes where you will be hard-pressed to find any reference to a source outside of IBM corporate documents (both public & internal). There is almost nothing in the text about operating systems aside from noting schedule slippages and the importance of virtual address translation. The importance of SABRE is covered but there is no mention at all of ACP or, for that matter, JES2 & JES3. The text goes into way too much detail on peripherals such as the Selectric typewriter, card punches/readers, floppy disk drives, ad nauseam . Nevertheless, IBM’s 360 and Early 370 Systems contains a wealth of information. There are lots of little hints about obscure technologies & projects that may stimulate further exploration. This book may be considered required reading for anyone interested in the rise of the computer industry in the United States, but for readers seeking an understanding of the evolution of computer technology in the 1960s, it’s not terribly valuable.

[Robert Grossman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good history of an extremely influential computer.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this based on the recommendation in https://medium.learningbyshipping.com...

Worthwhile read if you’re interested in general computer history or business strategy and structure through stressful transition. Was a bloody slog though.

[Stevejs298 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was more technical than I was interested in (and capable of understanding). So, I had to do a lot of skimming. But it was interesting to learn about the challenges of the product development and about IBM's role in the computer industry through the 1970's.

[Alex Lyashok · Rating 2 out of 5]

Blow by blow account of how 360 was built. Nobody does undertakings this big anymore.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid book on the history of computing- the technical details of this thorough book are in interesting counterpoint to the discussions of the personalities involved in the development of the IBM 370. I love the discussions of how the scientists and engineers solved problems associated with developing one of the most important lines of early computers. The very nature of those early designs make them particularly accessible to people interested in how computers work- the photos and figures (many of which look like they were drawn from early patents) are particularly interesting- the processes used to manufacture the early electronics used by the 370s.