| ▲ | kens 5 hours ago |
| Author here: I've finally finished a detailed history of IBM's 4 Pi computers, powering everything from the B-1 bomber to the Space Shuttle. Let me know if you have questions... |
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| ▲ | chihuahua 2 hours ago | parent | next [-] |
| Could a single person lift the complete set of manuals for one computer model? And what percentage of the pages of the manual said "this page intentionally left blank"? |
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| ▲ | contingencies 33 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Are there any similar parallel series in China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Russia or the UK that you have had a chance to study? |
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| ▲ | nick__m 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-] |
| just one: why it named System/4 Pi ? (the Pi part especially) |
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| ▲ | kens 4 hours ago | parent [-] | | The name is essentiallly a geometry joke. The IBM System/360 line of mainframes (1964) revolutionized the computer industry with the concept of one family of computers for all applications: business and scientific. (Before the 360, nobody considered compatibility, so different computer models were entirely incompatible, which was a mess.) The name symbolized that System/360 covered the full 360º of applications. The 4 Pi name extended this idea to applications in the 3-dimensional world: 4π is the number of steradians making up a full sphere. As IBM put it, "System/4 Pi also fills a sphere—the full spectrum of military computer needs—for airborne, space, or shipboard use." | | |
| ▲ | jasomill an hour ago | parent [-] | | My local carwash's top-end wash is called the "Ultimate 360°", despite the fact that it obviously cleans the entire surface area of the car, and I'm simultaneously annoyed by the name and reminded of the System/4 Pi. |
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