The IBM 603 Electronic Multiplier was the first mass-produced commercial electronic calculating device; it used full-size
vacuum tube
A vacuum tube, electron tube, thermionic valve (British usage), or tube (North America) is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric voltage, potential difference has been applied. It ...
s to perform multiplication and addition.
[IBM 603 The First Commercial Electronic Calculator](_blank)
IBM History, accessed September 21, 2020] (The earlier
IBM 601 and released in the same year
IBM 602 used
relay logic.) The IBM 603 was adapted as the
arithmetic unit in the
IBM Selective Sequence Electronic Calculator. It was designed by
James W. Bryce, and included circuits patented by A. Halsey Dickenson in 1937.
The IBM 603 was developed in
Endicott, New York
Endicott is a Village (New York), village within the town of Union, New York, Union in Broome County, New York, United States. The population was 13,392 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Binghamton metropolitan area. The village is named after ...
, and announced on September 27, 1946.
IBM's CEO
Thomas J. Watson was doubtful of the product, but commercialization was pushed for by his son
Thomas J. Watson Jr. Only about 20 were built since the bulky tubes made it hard to manufacture, but the demand showed that the product was filling a need. Ralph Palmer and
Jerrier Haddad were hired to develop a more refined and versatile version of the 603, which became the
IBM 604 Electronic Calculating Punch.
The 604 used
miniature tubes and a patented design for pluggable modules, which made the product easier to manufacture and service.
[ US patent 2637763, filed July 9, 1948, issued May 5, 1953, Ralph L. Palmer] Throughout the following 10 years IBM would build and lease 5600 units of the IBM 604.
References
External links
Columbia University Computing History: The IBM 603* US patent 2641408, filed October 26, 1951, issued June 9, 1953, Russel A. Rowley and Delmar C. Newcomb
603
Programmable calculators
1940s computers
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