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| From | RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> |
|---|---|
| Newsgroups | comp.misc, alt.folklore.computers |
| Subject | R.I.P. Gene Amdahl, pioneer in mainframe computing |
| Date | 2015-11-13 09:18 +0300 |
| Message-ID | <daldmbF6uqbU1@mid.individual.net> (permalink) |
Cross-posted to 2 groups.
Feed: NYT > Home Page Title: Gene Amdahl, Pioneer of Mainframe Computing, Dies at 92 Author: KATIE HAFNER Link: http://rss.nytimes.com/c/34625/f/640350/s/4b76e22a/sc/28/l/0L0Snytimes0N0C20A150C110C130Ctechnology0C gene0Eamdahl0Epioneer0Eof0Emainframe0Ecomputing0Edies0Eat0E920Bhtml0Dpartner0Frss0Gemc0Frss/story01.htm Date: Thu, 12 Nov 2015 18:24:56 -0500 Podcast Download URL: http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2015/11/13/business/13amdahl-obit-1/13amdahl-obit -1-moth.jpg http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/13/technology/gene-amdahl-pioneer-of-mainframe-computing-dies-at-92.html Dr. Amdahl played a crucial role in developing the IBM System/360 series, which influenced computer design for years. //--clip (sorry about wonky formatting) Gene Amdahl, a trailblazer in the design of IBM's mainframe computers, which became the central nervous system for businesses large and small throughout the world, died Tuesday night at a nursing home in Palo Alto, Calif. He was 92. His wife, Marian, said the cause was pneumonia. He had been treated for Alzheimer's disease for about five years, she said. Dr. Amdahl rose from South Dakota farm country, where he attended a one-room school without electricity, to become the epitome of a generation of computer pioneers who combined intellectual brilliance, managerial skill and entrepreneurial vigor to fuel the early growth of the industry. As a young computer scientist at International Business Machines Corporation in the early 1960s, he played a crucial role in the development of the System/360 series, the most successful line of mainframe computers in IBM's history. Its architecture influenced computer design for years to come. The 360 series was not one computer but a family of compatible machines. Computers in the series used processors of different speeds and power, yet all understood a common language. This allowed customers to purchase a smaller system knowing they could migrate to a larger, more powerful machine if their needs grew, without reprogramming the application software. IBM's current mainframes can still run some System/360 applications. The system was announced at IBM's annual shareholders meeting on April 7, 1964, in Endicott, N.Y., a village near Binghamton where the company had opened a facility early in the 20th century. At the meeting, Thomas J. Watson Jr., then chairman and chief executive, singled out Dr. Amdahl as the "father" of the new computer. "I remember it very clearly," Marian Amdahl said in an interview. "Gene was so proud of that." Michael J. Flynn, a computer scientist at Stanford University and former colleague of Dr. Amdahl's at IBM, said the 360 series "set the design philosophy for computers for the next 50 years, and to this day it's still out there, which is incredible." "This same instruction set," he added, "is still bringing in billions of dollars for IBM." Dr. Amdahl is remembered at IBM as an intellectual leader who could get different strong-minded groups to reach agreement on technical issues. "By sheer intellectual force, plus some argument and banging on the table, he maintained architectural consistency across six engineering teams," said Frederick P. Brooks Jr., a computer scientist who was the project manager of the System/360 and is now at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. //--clip
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R.I.P. Gene Amdahl, pioneer in mainframe computing RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> - 2015-11-13 09:18 +0300
Re: R.I.P. Gene Amdahl, pioneer in mainframe computing "Charles Richmond" <numerist@aquaporin4.com> - 2015-11-16 16:06 -0600
Re: R.I.P. Gene Amdahl, pioneer in mainframe computing John Levine <johnl@iecc.com> - 2015-11-16 23:12 +0000
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