IBM 1440

System configuration

The IBM 1441 processing unit (CPU) contained arithmetic and logic circuits and up to 16,000 alphanumeric storage positions.

The console was either a Model 1 or, when an electric typewriter was added, a Model 2, of the IBM 1447 operator's console.

Peripherals

The following peripherals were available:

• IBM 1442 card reader/punch
  • Model 1 read up to 300 cards a minute and punched up to 80 columns a second
  • Model 2 read up to 400 cards a minute and punched up to 160 columns a second
  • Model 4, a read-only unit, read up to 400 cards/minute. An IBM 1440 could be configured with a choice of:

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|access-date=2017-12-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150422025241/http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/ibm/144x/A24-3119-1_1442_Card_Read_Punch.pdf |archive-date=2015-04-22 |url-status=dead

• IBM 1443 flying typebar printer

  • Basic rate of 150 lines a minute and up to 430 lines a minute, depending on typebar
  • Interchangeable typebars having character sets of 13, 39, 52,"A-Z upper case, 10 digits 0–9, and 16 special characters: {{cite web

• IBM 1311 disk drive

  • Capacity for 2 million characters in each removable pack
    • With optional "Move Track Record" feature, capacity is increased to 2,980,000 characters in each pack
  • Each pack weighed less than 10 lb (5 kg).
  • Up to five 1311 drives

• Tape drives

  • The IBM 7335 tape drive, available for use with the 1440,a pair of 7335 Tape Drives were part of a cited 1440 configuration - {{cite news |newspaper=Computerworld |date=November 26, 1975 |page=38

Software

IBM 1440 Autocoder was the assembly language provided by IBM. An IOCS was also provided,{{cite web

Pricing

The cost and rental rate were:

• Purchase price: $90,000 and up, depending on system configuration.
• Rental rate: $1,500 and up, monthly rental, depending on system configuration.

Installations

Notable installations included a high-end 1440 at the Chicago Police Department installed by reformist superintendent Orlando Winfield Wilson in the early 1960s.

In the 1960s, Polish ZOWAR (ZETO Warszawa) was officially the first customer for IBM in Poland after WWII, despite the Iron Curtain.

In 2012, the TechWorks! Prototype Workshop of the Center for Technology & Innovation (CT&I) in Binghamton, New York successfully resurrected a 1440 system including a CPU and console, a 1311 disk drive, and a 1442 card reader/punch.

An example of a more fully configured 1440reported in 1964: {{cite web

• five disk drives
• two magnetic tape drives
• two card reader-punches
• one high-speed printer
• an optical reader (to transfer specially coded medical data forms to magnetic tape)

References

References

1. A convenience sampling of mid-1970s 1440 For-Sale ads showed 8K and 12K as quite common
2. not part of the initial offering
3. (23 January 2003). "DPD chronology".
4. "Seminarium Historyczne PTI: Krzysztof Bulaszewski. IBM w Polsce - początki".
5. Rhodes, Ryan. (Sep–Oct 2012). "A 1440 Data Processing System Finds New Life After 50 Years". IBM Systems Magazine.