Computer History: World's FASTEST Computer! - 1961-1964 in vintage film & photos (IBM supercomputer)

Computer History: World’s Fastest Computer explores the origin of the IBM STRETCH computer of 1960. Known as the IBM 7030. Selected rare video and vintage photos show the early days of this giant computer. Project Director Steve Dunwell introduces the machine in a rare 1960’s film excerpt, plus scenes of the giant STRETCH in operation at the U.S. Weather Bureau in 1960. Only 9 STRETCH computers were ever made. IBM sold them for just under $8 million each, but took a loss. The machine remained the fastest computer in existence from 1961 until 1964. In this presentation, other early systems, 704, NORC, 7090, are also seen. Explore the early days of supercomputers. We hope you enjoy this look behind the scenes during the early development of this giant machine, which included technical advancements that also appeared in other IBM machines in the years following. Run time; about 13 mins, with Appendix.
With special thanks to IBM Archives and Max Campbell for vintage IBM film and images, and to U.S. Navy Archives, Charles Babbage Institute, Computer History Museum, Bitsavers archive and others. see acknowledgments pages 11:06
For educational and historical review and comment only.
Films © International Business Machines Corporation
Uploaded by Computer History Archives Project (CHAP), an independent educational research activity.
For more information on the IBM STRETCH computer (IBM 7030), several good sources are available online, in particular, the following book by Werner Buchholz.
Title: “Planning a Computer System-The STRETCH” edited by Werner Buchholz is available in full text online here:
archive.org/de...
IBM Heritage
www.ibm.com/hi...
Charles Babbage Institute (Oral Histories)
(University of Minnesota)
conservancy.um...
Computer History Museum
www.computerhis...
NOTE: STRETCH System Physical Size and Electrical Power Requirements:
The Stretch CPU (Central Processing Unit) contained approximately 169,000 transistors, and had a power consumption of 21.6 KW. The CPU dimensions were approximately 31 feet long by 7 feet deep by 6 feet tall, or about 1,300 square feet.
The total system covered over 2,500 square feet. Overall power consumption was listed as 100 KW at 110 volts (but that number depends on which auxiliary modules are included in the total.) The system weighed approximately 40,000 Ibs.
Only Nine machines were ultimately produced and sold for about $7.78 million each in 1961. (Equivalent to $81,585,400 in 2024 dollars). (This is a reduction from the $13.5 million each that IBM had intended to sell them for, but reduced the price when the machine fell short of promised calculation speeds. However, it was still the fastest in the world at the time it was delivered in 1961.)
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[@bblod4896]

I thank you for saving these moments in computer history. 🏆

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

@bblod4896, thank you for the great feedback. This one was fun, and we learned a lot too. Thank you for your continued support! ~ VK, CHAP

[@n8chz]

I like how each component has a sign identifying its function, like in the Batcave.

[@captainkeyboard1007]

The Computer History Archives Project (CHAP) should be respected as a dignified online organization that represents and is able to promote computer technology in every aspect of life, with ingenuity and utmost efficiency that is supposed to be found in every job.💙

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

Hi @captainkeyboard1007, you are too kind, but much appreciated. We are extremely lucky to have very intelligent viewership that helps keep the dialogue stimulating. : ) CHAP

[@captainkeyboard1007]

@@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject Thank you. Your shows make me appreciate microcomputer technology much more, even in this 2024 year, as I type. I would not want to look back to using the typewriter or anyone else's computer. You are welcome, and thank you for typing to me. Happy Keyboarding!

[@1curiocat]

The book shown at 11:38, "Planning a Computer System: Project Stretch"- Our high school library had a copy of that book (c 1971). I remember looking at it when I was an eager young computing neophyte and not really getting anything out of it.

[@SusanAmberBruce]

Thanks to all who put this stuff together.

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

You are very welcome. Thank you for the kind words! ~ VK

[@captainkeyboard1007]

"Stuff?" I would love to call this work "material," even though it is digital and electronic. On the other hand, I love your mind.❤

[@SusanAmberBruce]

@@captainkeyboard1007 my apologies yes it's very informative material and undoubtedly a historical reference x

[@captainkeyboard1007]

@@SusanAmberBruce Dear Susan, you have nothing for which to apologize. I am an avid typist, a computer end-user, and a fan of microcomputer technology. Your opinion deserves to appear on this channel. I began a typewriting service in my home after I purchased my first microcomputer, color laser printer, and scanner in the year 2002. I would not want to return to the typical job in which I would have to govern my whole self under a man, even a woman, just to survive each work day. Our opinions are the reason that I appreciate the substances that Computer History Archives Project produces for the KZbin audience, but more than ever before. You type like a "ray of sunshine!" Thank you very much for typing to me. I bid you "Happy Keyboarding!"❤

[@SusanAmberBruce]

@@captainkeyboard1007 God bless you x

[@garthhowe297]

Bring back blinking lights, and spinning tape drives! Down with boring modern computers.

[@pmsteamrailroading]

If you make a grid of 3mm holes about 100x50. Fill the holes with flashing LEDs. When powered up the difference in the LED timing will, after about a minute, give you a blinking light panel that looks just like real work is being done. Give it some plausible sudotech label and put it on the front of a server rack. Amaze your friends.

[@Roxor128]

Lots of potential uses for blinking lights with a modern machine. You could assign them all sorts of meanings. CPU usage graphs, individual drive usages, temperature readouts, your imagination is the limit.

[@W1RMD]

@@pmsteamrailroading Sounds like a great idea! Now all we need is a sound machine for the bleeps, sweeps and the creeps.

[@roachtoasties]

I just got my new Stretch Computer delivered by FedEx last week. In no time I've got it all set-up. This system is a lifesaver. Thank you IBM! But really, when I started watching this, I thought IBM named the computer "Stretch" because of all those stacked cabinets stretched out behind the operator's console.

[@MickeyMousePark]

is yours working properly?..mine keeps turning on all the blinky lights at the same time (or in the pattern of a sad face) until i reset the power (after calling the local power station) which takes about an hour..by the way when i first got mine installed ..i forgot to call the local power station so they could bring a new nuclear reactor online and when i powered it on the entire city went dark...just a tip for others installing their new Stretch Computer at home ...i have not received my first power bill yet i am sure it will be fine...

[@roachtoasties]

@@MickeyMousePark No rolling blackouts yet since I turned on my new Stretch Computer. My first power bill also hasn't arrived, but I'm not worried. All the heat it generates I can sell to warm the entire neighborhood come this winter. I think mine works. I asked it to give me the square root of 9. After some churning and all those Christmas lights flashing in front, it gave me the answer of 3. Incredible. IBM is no Mickey Mouse operation. If your power bill is high, run an extension cord into the Disneyland main power grid, and you should be good to go. :)

[@US_Joe]

Great post - thanks. The real amazement is that todays cell phone is more powerful 👍

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

Glad you enjoyed it. Certainly, quite a machine! ~ VK

[@amitraam1270]

Actually, your phone's charger is (fast chargers)

[@MIGHTYcbu]

Thank you for putting this together. Very interesting to see the change to transistor based computing

[@Dr_Mario2007]

It's kinda weird to consider that your smartphone, which even though it isn't as powerful as recently assembled gaming computers, is like hundreds thousands times more powerful than that IBM supercomputer (especially with several clusters of superscalar out-of-order shaders in recent GPUs which are a bit hard to stall even with graphics and OpenCL code spaghetti, so they're also commonly used for supercomputing task even in your own computer at home which is crazy considering you can buy $10+ millions computer hardware for $300 to 2,000 a chip on the video card). Technological advancement is crazy. Still, I appreciate having digitalized films available on KZbin - history is worth preserving and shown.

[@thesteelrodent1796]

the stretch was 40 kIPS. Your basic modern appliance uses a processor in the low MIPS range, and yet no one uses their dishwasher to run spreadsheets. Essentially we have an incredible amount of processing power in our homes nowadays, and most of it isn't utilized.

[@Richardincancale]

One example was sold to the French atomic research agency and is partially preserved in the Paris museum of Arts et Métiers. They have the control panel on display and some of the drum broken down so you can see all the heads and wiring. Probably the only example this side of the pond.

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

That sounds fascinating. Good to know. One wonders where the different machines and parts ended up. Thank you! ~ Victor, CHAP

[@RingingResonance]

When anyone ever mentions Allied Master-computer, this is the type of computer I imaging him based on. Organized wearhouses of these linked together combined with a mix of older and newer computer equipment connected. Some organized as they were added before AM gained consciousness, others piled on in a disorderly fashion by AM himself, and even more newer computers created by AM connected.

[@MrTommyboy68]

I would be interested in knowing how much electricity these monsters sucked up and how much air conditioning was required to keep them cool.

[@captainkeyboard1007]

That would be very interesting.

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

Good question! Here is some info that might help: The system was probably air cooled. The 169,000 transistors required a total of 21.6 KW of power (21,600 KW). Several references stated that the whole system was over 100 KW at 110 volts, but that number depends on which auxiliary modules are included in the total. The system probably used aluminum racks as well. Overall, it would generate considerable heat, but much, much less than the earlier vacuum tube based machines. The large 7090, 7094 machines used cooled air under the raised floor. Extensive prep of the facility would be needed before installing the 7030 STRETCH, to ensure adequate air flow and power management for A/C units, plural. (As more info is obtained on this question, we will post it here as well. Thanks very much.)

[@MrTommyboy68]

@@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject O worked at a data gathering company in Phoenix that went from a mom and pop operation (and didn't spend the money to keep things up and running) and used "people A/C units" in the computer center. They got bought out by a larger company and decided to upgrade with the latest and greatest servers. During the planning sessions the sales rep told my bosses how much A/C would be required and how much power usage would be. I was looking at the spec sheets and called him out on his "estimate". I got ripped by the bosses and told to not disrespect the sales rep as this was his job. So, I ordered what he recommended and it arrived and I got the systems installed and had our electrical contractor add the requested panels installed. He didn't even get 1/4 of the servers plugged in and I "lost" the room due to heat load and got called in to get ragged on AGAIN. I pulled the meeting minutes and showed them where THEY over rode me and told me to go with what the sales rep said was needed. I ended up having to order 4 MORE Liebert's and additional electrical panels from the main switch gear room. A couple of heads rolled on that one and I was vindicated. Moral of the story LISTEN TO YOUR A/C. He does this for a living.

[@MrTommyboy68]

@@captainkeyboard1007 As I found out, sales reps will say ANYTHING to get a sale. He majorly DOWNSIZED the amount of heat that would be generated as well as the power consumption. I was over ridden by my bosses and ordered EXACTLY what the sales rep told us and ended with a boondoggle. I pulled the meeting minutes and stuck it under their noses and they had to eat crow. A few heads rolled on that one, but I was vindicated.

[@johntoe6127]

@@MrTommyboy68 Usually they shoot the messenger and go on like nothing ever happened.

[@sincerelyyours7538]

What struck me most was not the content but the fact that the video itself was narrated by computer, in this case an AI computer. You can tell by the perfect accent, voice and speech patterns as well as the lack of any credit given for a human narrator. I confess I'm not crazy about this trend. I prefer an actual human voice, clear and well-trained, but with the unique oral characteristics that only biological vocal chords can make. Oh, and yes, the content was interesting, minus the repetitious use of images required for the 'narrator' to finish talking. I prefer longer pauses so I can finish reading the captions than to be interrupted by an image that I'd already seen. Beyond those two quibbles the video was informative and well researched.

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

Hi @sincerelyyours7538, excellent points, well taken, thank you! ~ P.S. The "Narrator's" name is "George Sussex," and he is still learning how to narrate effectively ... : )

[@sincerelyyours7538]

@@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject Glad to hear it! For a while there I thought the Forbin Project had succeeded in creating an actual human voice :). Kudos to Mr. Sussex and I hope to see his name in future credits.

[@timtruett5184]

Not so perfect. It mispronounced Dahlgren.

[@felipesants8936]

GREAT POST , THANKS

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

Hi @felipesants8936, thanks very much! ~

[@ElijahRetro1982]

Nicely done 👍🏽😎👍🏽

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

HI @So-CalNevAri82, Thanks very much. Your feedback is appreciated! 👍 ~ CHAP

[@SheeplessNW6]

2:30 Pointing guy: What is this, a printer for ants?

[@MotownBatman]

This was Excellent. Thank You for the w!zaRd Video!

[@choppergirl]

Man, I so want the little computer set at the 2:30 and 3:20 mark... My 7950x Snow White can crush Stretch and is about the size of that model stacked together... but like... 40 years later so... shrug, not a win ;-)

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

I so want one too(!) (Saw one on eBay for $1,200 once.) Thanks very much for your feedback. ~ VK

[@gerteldering]

Is this 1960 film one of the first moments where the term "mainframe" is introduced? At 7 minutes into the video different "frames" are shown and at 8.29 he mentions that the Exchange carries the information form the "main frame" and the rest is history.

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

Hi @gerteldering, that is a very good observation. Could possibly be. They started using the term in the mid 1950's, which is when the machine was being conceptually designed. Good catch! ~

[@DT-nn5ct]

And today the whole hall is lying on my desk as a matchbox-sized ESP8266...

[@ablebaker99]

The performance difference is quite dramatic. The $3 ESP8266 can do about 75 VAX MIPS non-floating point. The IBM 7090 metioned as being a little slower than IBM Stretch could do about 0.186 MIPS scientific calculations. The ESP8266 would have to do floating point in software but even so it would probably be way faster than the IBM Stretch.

[@turbinegraphics16]

He was describing branch prediction which I believe took until the 90's to be available in home computers.

[@allanrichardson1468]

It was available in most large mainframes in the ‘70s.

[@thesteelrodent1796]

Great old film. I want those cute miniature mainframes they keep showing off

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

I totally agree. I would love one of those model sets! The IBM 360 salesmen had these for 360. Sometimes they show up on eBay for hundreds of $$. : )

[@martinploughboy988]

Those cards look remarkably like the PCBs I recall seeing in electronics shops in my youth (Smiths of Lisle St in Soho for example) Of course they were minus their gold plated contacts.

[@ghydda]

My first ever first! Also, nice vid.

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

@ghydda, congrats on being first! Glad you found us. Thanks for the feedback too! ~ CHAP

[@johnsavard7583]

The papers on the Datatron, available on Bitsavers, show that it was envisaged with many features that ended up in the 360.

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

Hi @johnsavard7583, yes, very true. It seems the designers were way ahead of their competition at that time. Some pretty advanced concepts made it into the machine, and into future machines. ~ Some smart folks there.

[@JedRothwell]

I read somewhere the Stretch was nicknamed "Twang!" because it pushed the technology too far. Many of the features were later "cleaned up" and used in the 360. Lytton Strachey described it: "I get the impression that Stretch is in some way the end of one line of development. Like some early computer programs, it is immensely ingenious, immensely complicated, and extremely effective. But somehow at the same time crude, wasteful and inelegant. And one feels there must be a better way of doing things."

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

Hi @JedRothwell, good points! Thanks for the thoughtful feedback! ~ VK

[@gdavisloopfta380]

Interesting that it had both an Operator's and Engineer's consoles. My guess is the operator's console was used to run the computer, and the Engineer's was to keep the computer running! I saw enormous vertical hard disks like that in an old movie recently. Wish I could remember which one; I didn't think they were real!

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

Hi @gdavisloopfta380, yes, quite amazing to see two such large consoles on one computer! Quite massive and needed full time oversight. The vertical hard disk (RAMAC unit) were used connected to many other IBM big computers of the late 1950s.... Thanks very much for the feedback!

[@allanrichardson1468]

I was under the impression until recently that the IBM System/360 was the first computer to break out of the “octal closet” of bits grouped by threes (as in 36 bit words and 6bit text characters) and group bits by powers of 2, with 8 bit characters called “bytes” and 4 bit “hex” (hexadecimal) digits called “bubbles.” But someone told me that the 7030 Stretch had such an architecture before the 360. Having had no knowledge of the Stretch before, I searched and confirmed that it did indeed have multiples of 4 bits expressed as hex digits! Since then, all but a few IBM computers and all personal computers have used hex with 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64 bit processors.

[@GH-oi2jf]

The hex notation is not intrinsic to a machine, though, but just a convention used by the programmers and engineers. Digital Equipment had 16-bit machines that were documented in octal notation.

[@allanrichardson1468]

@ True. They were adamant about preserving their legacy. They went on to build 18 bit machines also.

[@jourwalis-8875]

They were really big, these supercomputers back in the day!

[@AI_Image_Master]

Yet as we make things smaller, they are actually getting bigger. To accomplish what we do today we have gigantic data centers filled with small individual components that dwarf these large computers from the 60's.

[@badcompany-w6s]

City hall just got there stretch today!

[@GothGuy885]

4:50 were the SMS Cards Hot Swapble, or did they have to power down the machine before hand?

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

That is a great question. Don't have the answer at the moment, but that is one for further research. My guess is that if they found a bad card on a machine used for high-accuracy atomic research calculations, they might want to stop and replace the card before doing more calculations. Just a thought. Perhaps someone in this thread will know the answer to your question about hot swapable SMS....

[@jamesemanner9671]

Yes. On, for instance, a 7094 system, the power down/up process was relatively slow, so we would hot-swap.

[@marcse7en]

I very much doubt "hot swapping" was a thing, in 60's computing.

[@Lion_McLionhead]

Must have been horrifying to that generation to see their jobs replaced by such leaps in computing.

[@johntoe6127]

Eventually the leaps in computing created a massive number of jobs.

[@joesterling4299]

I owe my career to the massive leaps in computing that followed in the 80s and beyond.

[@Texaca]

... ALL those people Were Engineers... you needed a Mathematics, or Science or an Engineering degree to work on systems like that. There weren't any ITT Techs, or DeVry, or Kaplan Institute graduates there, or from any of the other #Fake Trade schools like Corinthian Colleges (Everest, Heald, and WyoTech) 🤔 Those people got better jobs.

[@dalecomer5951]

Very interesting. Does CHAP do the narration on these videos? How long was STRETCH the world's fastest? Some of the later systems mentioned were still around when I started. A school where I worked had an ex-NASA IBM 360/91 which had once been one of the world's fastest. Had a feeling of real power at my fingertips when running jobs on it.

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

Hi @dalecomer5951, Thanks very much for your feedback. We research and draft and produce narration when there is no narration to the film. Many early clips from the 1950's are silent, or have simply lost the audio portion over time. ~ STRETCH was top dog in speed from 1961 until 1964 when the CDC 6600 came out. Lawrence Livermore acquired a 6600 for $8 million in August 1964, and that was fastest until the faster CDC 7600 came out in 1969. It was a mad race for speed... Government funding kept the computer firms pumping out faster and faster machines. ~ Your work at NASA sounds like a great experience! the 360/91 was a powerhouse from what little I know of it. Sounds like fun!

[@dalecomer5951]

@@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject Hi-- I worked for a school (State U.) which got the 360/91 surplus from NASA after Project Apollo. There were a number made available. I should find out what replaced those at NASA.

[@chrisstott2775]

Oh yes, so fast that an infinite loop takes 5 minutes - so says the sales man...(Or was that about the Cray 1?)

[@adambourne5523]

And yes, STRETCH could play Crysis

[@johnfpotega2017]

Is anything like this still around and working, for demonstration purposes???

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

You might try the Computer History Museum in Mountain View CA. I think they have portions of the original Stretch IBM 7030 machine. Because of the size and age, it is doubtful anyone has a full working system, but the parts are quite impressive themselves. ~ CHAP

[@Jimbaloidatron]

Look ahead! 60s! Wow! :-)

[@b43xoit]

The building for Stretch (the first? all?) had a zigzag roof structure so the roof could support itself without columns in the room.

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

That is a fascinating bit of info.... Thanks!

[@gdavisloopfta380]

It appears this computer used 64-bit words, so the 2 million word hard disks would store 16MB each - which is larger than my first hard disk!

[@MatsEngstrom]

At 6:49 he says "more than one billion operations per second". It should probably be million - or maybe I'm just hearing it wrong...

[@b43xoit]

Sounds like "billion" to me, too.

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

You are probably correct!

[@ymz5]

@@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject 'twas just to impress customers :) The guy perfectly knew that for that the machine should run at least 1GHz, where achievable clock frequencies at the time barely approached 10 MHz.

[@GH-oi2jf]

It could be a billion, depending on what operations he is counting.

[@mortwin6054]

good vid just think now you mobile phone has more power than that computer :) but still enjoy seeing that old tech :)

[@seanys]

6 x 32 words = 192 kB I.e., less than my Google TV remote control.

[@RodgerMudd]

The machines built today's machines. Computers can out think every human on the planet.

[@marcse7en]

I can process 64 quadrillion thoughts per second! 👍🤣

[@matneu27]

Air-conditioning has left the chat 😅 Seriosly I wonder what, transformer based, PSU they had and what waste heat those data centers had produced?

[@MalachiBurke]

Was this the first look-ahead unit? You'd think Intel invented it in the 90s if you believe the marketing...

[@Kicm2Kicm2]

Kouini transistors

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

Is that a specific type?

[@Kicm2Kicm2]

IBM

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

Yes it is.

[@WyomingGuy876]

One Mega-FLOP! Such speed!

[@melz3343]

[@ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

Thank you!