Introduction to IBM 1130

The IBM 1130 was introduced in 1965. It was leased (rented) by companies in order to help them run their business, for example to control their finances, keep track of what they made, or calculate wages. It was also used by universities to teach students about computer science and by government departments for research.

Input

There is no monitor but we can recognise the keyboard built into the sleek desk. The computer was fully programmable.

Information was punched onto cards each hole representing, by its position on the card, a character or a piece of information. The cards were used to input the data or the programs into the computer by placing the stack of punched cards into a card reader that automatically took each card, one at a time, and read off the information.

Output

Output for a few pages of text was from a small electric golf ball typewriter. Larger amounts of output data, for reports for example, went to the line printer. This used wider paper and was very fast. It was used for large volume printing requiring hundreds of pages.

Storage

The IBM 1130 used an exchangeable hard disc.

Memory

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Processing

The information to be input is punched onto cards on a machine. This is done 'off line', that is, on a machine that is not connected to the computer. The cards are then put into the card reader, the input device, which is permanently connected to the computer.

The computer operator has to decide what the computer is required to do with the data that has just been input. He or she would type commands into the keyboard to operate the computer. The instruction may be to run a program to analyse customer records perhaps, or produce a report.

User Interface

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Impact on Society

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Images of the IBM 1130