Improvements in peripheral equipment and new computer announcements were the highlights of the Eastern Joint Computer Conference in New York. One commercial computer was unveiled at the show: the Recomp II, a new low-cost machine designed by North American Aviation, Inc.'s Autonetics Div. The Autonetics Recomp III is the latest, and lowest priced, entry in the Recomp series, and will rent for $1495 a month. Other computers now under development discussed at the show included the following:
- The Univac 1107, which uses a small thin-film control memory, for delivery in 18 to 24 months.
- The Sylvania Data Systems 9400 data-processing system, particularly suited for operating many input-output machines, is aimed at government agencies and telephone exchanges.
- The 212 central processor, used in the Philco 2000 computer, was announced by Philco Corp.'s Computer Div. This unit is said to be four times faster than the 211 processor it supersedes. Philco's improved central processor, the 3212, uses transistor-diode logic to attain 10-µsec multiplication speed, including access, for two 48-bit words.
Probably one of the most unexpected developments at the EJCC was Remington Rand's plan to include a thin-film memory in the Univac 1107 (see photo). The thin-film memory will be coincident-current type with 0.6-µsec cycle time. The 1107 will also include from 16,384 to 65,536 words of ferrite-core memory with 4-µsec cycle time. The machine will rent for $40,000 to $60,000 per month.
Improved peripheral equipment on display included three mylar-disk memories shown by the Laboratory for Electronics, Inc. The first of these Bernoulli-disk memories was shown at the 1959 EJCC in Boston. The BD-100 had a paper-thin, 7.25-in. diameter disk which stored 100,000 bits on 50 tracks. An experimental BD-500 was shown this year, which should store 500,000 bits on a 12-1/4-in. diameter disk. (Electronic Design, Jan. 4, 1961, p. 8)
The Eastern Joint Computer Conference, with its companion Western JCC, were the computer industry's two primary computer systems conferences and shows in 1961. Check out those computer manufacturers' names—Autonetics, Sylvania, and Philco. Who recalls that these companies made commercial computer systems? The photo shows Remington Rand's director of physical research, S.M. Rubers, holding a thin-film memory plane for the Univac 1107.