IBM

IBM INTRODUCES POWERFUL SMALL COMPUTER

WITH MONTHLY RENTAL BEGINNING AT $695

WHITE PLAINS, N. Y., Feb. 11 . . . The first IBM computer to rent for less than $1,000 a month was introduced today by International Business Machines Corporation.

Monthly rental of the new IBM 1130 computing system begins at $695. Its internal computing ability, however, is greater than systems costing several times as much.

The desk-sized 1130 is designed for individual use by engineers, scientists and mathematicians. But with its range of peripheral units, the 1130 also will be used in such fields as publishing, construction, finance, manufacturing and distribution.

For ease of use by many individuals, an advanced storage technique is available with the 1130 computer. Data and instructions for computer processing are recorded on a magnetic disk similar in appearance to a phonograph record. Disks are protected by a plastic cartridge. Each IBM 2315 disk cartridge can hold the equivalent of more than one million characters of information.

The cartridge enables an engineer, for example, to store information about his own work on his own disk. When he wishes to use the computer, he simply slides the disk with its plastic jacket into a slot on the 1130 console. Information from the disk is transferred into the 1130's high-speed core memory for processing. The computer has a memory capacity equivalent to more than 16,000 characters of information.

The 1130 is designed for use in a wide range of scientific, technical and business activities. These include:

• solving of complex mathematical and statistical problems;
• preparing newspaper, magazine and book copy for automatic typesetting;
• developing road, bridge and tunnel designs for civil engineers;
• scheduling construction projects using critical path techniques;
• analyzing geological findings to assist petroleum exploration teams;
• balancing electrical load flow for public utilities, and
• accounting for delivery route operations of bakeries, dairies and other distribution companies.

To assist 1130 users in making effective use of their system, IBM will provide more than 50 application programs for use in such fields as civil engineering, publishing, mathematical and statistical problem-solving, and petroleum exploration and engineering.

"Many small companies, research centers and development groups have a need for low-cost computing power. The 1130 can meet this need in the smallest engineering and commercial organization or in separate departments of larger corporations," John R. Opel, vice president-marketing of IBM's Data Processing Division, said. "It provides a high level of capability, but at a cost that makes it practical to bring the computer right to the Individual with a problem which must be solved," Mr. Opel said.

The 1130 computing system employs the microelectronic circuits produced by IBM's Solid Logic Technology. These circuits, similar to those used in the IBM System/360, operate at billionth-of-a-second speeds. They enable the 1130 to perform as many as 120,000 additions in a second -- unprecedented power for a computer in this price range.

Programs written in FORTRAN for the 1130 can be run on the IBM Sysrem/360 if there is the same type of peripheral equipment available in the System/360 configuration.

The application programs provided without charge with the 1130, such as those for the solution of mathematical and statistical problems, will simplify use of the computer for individual engineers, business firms and consultants.

The individual need only indicate which pre-written program he needs, supply data, and he will receive an answer within a few moments. He can communicate with the computer through its keyboard.

Since the user does not have to tell the computer how to solve such complex problems as simultaneous equations or multiple regressions, a good deal of his time is saved.

Information generated by the 1130 can be represented graphically with an lBM 1627 plotter linked to the computer. The plotter can prepare charts, graphs and diagrams from tabular results calculated by the computer. The plotter can thus trace the shape of a cam being designed or draw business graphs depicting trends in sales and manufacturing. A set of programs available with the computer enable it to smooth out point-to-point data and thus represent curves precisely.

To accomplish a variety of applications ranging from research to route accounting, the 1130 can be used with paper tape punch and reader, card read punch and a low-cost printer as peripheral equipment.

Main memory of the 1130 computing system is a magnetic core storage with capacity of 4,096 or 8,192 16-bit words. Memory cycle time -- the time required to move a word from and restore it to memory -- is 3.6 millionths of a second.

The basic IBM 1130 computing system will rent for $695 a month and sell for $32,280. A typical system with disk storage will rent for $895 a month and will cost $41,230.

First deliveries are scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 1965. The 1130 computing system will be manufactured at IBM facilities in San Jose, Calif. It also will be manufactured by the IBM World Trade Corporation in Greenock, Scotland, for customers outside the United States.

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DPD 212-A
2/11/65-C2