Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
suggests that GE valued IBM greatly as a high-volume customer for various GE technolo-
gies and preferred to remain IBM's supplier rather than its competitor.
During the late 1950s, GE developed a transistorized computer called ERMA (Elec-
tronic Method of Accounting) for automated check-clearing in banks. The project was con-
tracted by the Bank of America and orchestrated by GE engineers in concert with talent
from the Stanford Research Institute. The machine proved popular, but it was GE's sole
success, given the fact that corporate support for computer R&D remained nil. GE would
formally exit the mainframe marketplace in 1970, selling its technology - such as it was -
to Honeywell for approx. $200 million.
RCA's foray into mainframes proved to be another
Titanic
-like voyage. Smaller than
GE but significantly larger than both IBM and Remington Rand, RCA had - as one might
expect - been involved supplying storage tubes for the early machines of other companies.
In 1955, they introduced their own machine. The BIZMAC mainframe, as its name im-
plied, was intended for business data processing. But like Honeywell's Datamatic, which
would be released two years later, the BIZMAC was out of date before its launch, using
inefficient and expensive vacuum tubes as opposed to cheaper and faster transistors. Later
on, RCA offered up a line of transistorized computers, the 301 and 501, which met with
some (though not great) success. RCA would never be a serious player.
The National Cash Register Company (NCR) and the Burroughs Corporation both
unsuccessfully experimented with the development and marketing of mainframes during
the 1950s. Eventually Burroughs (which helped pioneer transistorized machines) would
emerge in the 1960s as a viable competitor in the field.
During the early 1950s, Philco developed a high-performance transistor called "surface
barrier," which it subsequently used in several computers of its own design and manufac-
ture. Philco's SOLO, developed in top secrecy during the mid 1950s under contract to the
National Security Agency (NSA), was a robust, fully-transistorized general purpose ma-
chine. The firm offered a non-classified model for commercial purposes in 1958. Philco's
non-classified TRANSAC S-1000 was soon followed by a slightly improved model: the
S-2000. First deliveries were made in early 1960. Although the machine performed reason-
ably well, Philco sales efforts underperformed compared to those of IBM and Remington
Rand, and Philco would never be a significant force in the market.
