IBM 650 Console Unit for an IBM 650 Mainframe Computer
date: label: date made
content: 1957
name: label: maker
content: IBM
label: maker
content: IBM
notes: label: Description
content: Introduced in 1954, the IBM 650 mainframe computer was among the first sold by the company, and was manufactured until 1962. It had three main equipment cabinets, the power unit (Type 655), the console unit (Type 650), and the card punch unit (Type 533 - on other examples it was a Type 537). In 1956, it was possible to purchase the machine for about $500,000 or to rent it for well over $3000 per month. Prices went up over time.
label: Description
content: IBM placed over 2000 IBM 650s to a diverse range of business, government, and educational offices (schools received a significant discount). This example was manufactured in Endicott, New York, in 1957, shipped on June 10, 1958, to what was then the Carpenter Steel Company in Reading, Pennsylvania, began operating June 20, 1958, and ran at Carpenter until its retirement in November, 1968. The following year, it came to the Smithsonian collections.
label: Description
content: This (e.g. CI.306013.02) is the console unit for the IBM 650. It is a Type 650, Model 2, and contains the magnetic drum memory for the machine.
label: Description
content: Reference:
label: Description
content: Accession file 306013, National Museum of American History.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, Endicott
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Computers
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Carpenter Technology Corporation
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: CI.306013.02
label: catalog number
content: 306013.02
label: accession number
content: 306013
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Mainframe
label: Object Name
content: mainframe computer component
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 70 1/4 in x 30 in x 61 in; 178.435 cm x 76.2 cm x 154.94 cm