Chris Linfoot | IBM: Computing Systems Fundamentals

Tuesday, 13. May 2008

IBM: Computing Systems Fundamentals

Found while clearing out an old office area in the bowels of the factory, an IBM publication entitled Computing Systems Fundamentals; Text - Unit 1.

It is dated July 1967 and I so enjoyed reading the introduction that I have decided to share it here unedited, with all punctuation including underlining intact.

Enjoy.

INTRODUCTION

COMPUTING SYSTEMS FUNDAMENTALS
     We live in an age of computers. Whether computers are used to figure our bank statements, help plan new bridges, or guide our astronauts in orbit, our lives each day are in some way affected by the computers around us. We can even go so far as to say that life as we know it today would not be possible without computers.

     Computers are among the most useful tools ever invented by mankind. Yet they are also one of the most misunderstood devices that man has ever produced. The fantastic speed, complexity, and development of computers leave many people saying, "I could never understand computers!"

     Nothing could be farther from the truth. Computers are not "super-brains" or "thinking machines." All computers, regardless of their stage of development, do three basic things: reading, writing, and arithmetic. If this sounds something like the three R's we learned in school, it is for a good reason. The basic concepts of what a computer does are simple, straightforward, and easy to understand. This course, Computing Systems Fundamentals, will teach you these concepts. It will teach you what computer systems and computer solutions to problems have in common. It will show you some of the ways computers can read data, some ways they can write results, and the arithmetic (plus a little logic) they use to get results.

     A computer is a tool for solving a problem. In this short course you will learn how this tool is used. You will also learn that the problem has to be analyzed and fed into the computer in a certain way before the computer can even begin to solve it. You will learn standard techniques and procedures for reducing your data-processing problem to a form that the computer can handle. You will see how data goes in and comes out of the computer. Also, you will learn that, even after a problem has been solved, you still have "housekeeping" duties to perform in order to make the same problem, or later ones like it, easier to solve the next time.

     The computer field is among the most exciting — and demanding — fields of human endeavor. When you finish Computing Systems Fundamentals you will not be an expert in computer hardware, a systems analyst, or a computer programmer. However, you will have a firm grasp of the "Big Picture" of how computers solve problems, the most important techniques in solving these problems, and a clear idea of what goes on both outside and inside the computer as a problem is being solved.

     Finally, when you have completed Computing Systems Fundamentals, you will be ready to begin examining in detail procedures and equipment used in computer processing. You will also be able to acquire as much additional information about any phase of a computer program that you need to learn.

     We hope to teach you to see both the forest and the trees. So good luck as you work through your first programmed instruction in Computing Systems Fundamentals.

Plenty more where that came from, including some nice pictures...

Category: Computing Systems Fundamentals
Technorati: IBM Computing+Systems+Fundamentals

Comments :

1. Kerr13/05/2008 12:04:21

I love really old computer books. I was rummaging around an second hand bookshop in a little town in northern California while on holiday and managed to pick up a book called How To Design & Build Your Own Computer. It's from the sixties and is full of circuit diagrams for building RAM etc. As the name implies, it also goes into a lot of detail on all the design trade-offs you might make given what you want to do with the computer.

Sometimes I feel like such a geek.

Geeky pleasure was only raised when two minutes later I was wandering around the forest moon of Endor ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/35751969@N00/524171894/ )

2. Chris Linfoot13/05/2008 12:27:19

@Kerr - at least you did get to see both the forest and the trees.

3. Bart14/05/2008 15:36:27

Can you send it by modem to me?
http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/04/29/ibm-1001-data-transmission-system/

4. Chris Linfoot14/05/2008 16:10:41

How many bauds you got?

5. Bart14/05/2008 20:28:22

8 but i will upgrade to 16 soon.
BTW, this is from the same site http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/09/07/control-data-plato-computer-system/ and interesting because it is seen as the roots of Lotus Notes.

6. Steven14/05/2008 21:32:00

Someone in our office was cleaning out their desk and tossed out a perfectly good IBM flowcharting template dated 2/75. OF COURSE I NABBED IT!!! Ahh the memories of the days before VISIO.

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