While some of us were learning to color, memorize the alphabet and obviously proving to be a toddler delight to parents and siblings, IBM engineers were unveiling what would become one of its greatest innovations: the System/360 mainframe.
That was in 1964, and as the old marketing slogan goes, it's come a long way baby.
IBM's big iron innovation, which remains a computing infrastructure stalwart that Americans depend on every day (think ATM transactions), turns the big 50 this month and already the party is getting started.
The mainframe, according to various historical perspectives from IBM, tied together the "loose ends" of electronic data processing and provided a compute powerhouse system that business could afford. Here's how IBM describes its purpose:
"Specifically, the new system enabled companies to integrate all of their data processing applications into a single management information system. Virtually unlimited storage and instant retrieval capabilities provided management with up-to-the-minute decision-making information.
System/360 included in its central processors 19 combinations of graduated speed and memory capacity. Incorporated with these were more than 40 types of peripheral equipment. Built-in communications capability made the system available to remote locations, regardless of distance."
Today's mainframe technology holds about 70 percent of the world's operational data, according to reports and has served as eh backbone of large-scale computing systems.
In its initial public announcement letter in 1964 IBM Board Chairman Thomas J. Watson declared the mainframe to be a new generation of electronic computing equipment and most important product announcement in the company's history.
The IBM flagship eServer zSeries 990, which debuted in May 2003, is the most recent mainframe reiteration.
While there are lots of fun historical facts about the mainframe development, one of the most notable has to do with the world's current user computing realm:
A recent survey found that 51 per cent of organizations were open to the idea of using their smartphones to manage their mainframe. Additionally, 46 per cent said they wanted to access mainframes from their iPads.
That's likely to remain an unfilled innovation given the mainframe remains one of the most popular systems due to its secure nature.
For more on the mainframe's history and family tree, click here.
