IBM 608

The chief designer of the circuits used in the IBM 608 was Robert A. Henle, who later oversaw the development of emitter-coupled logic (ECL) class of circuits. This decision constrained IBM product managers, who otherwise had the latitude to select components for their products, to make the move to transistors. As a result, the successor to the IBM 650 used transistors, and it became the IBM 7070—the company's first transistorized stored-program computer. ==Overview==

The 608 contained more than 3,000 germanium transistors. The 608 also used magnetic core memory, but was still programmed using a control panel. In raw speed terms, it could perform 4,500 additions per second, it could multiply two nine-digit numbers, yielding an 18-digit result in 11 milliseconds, and it could divide an 18-digit number by a nine-digit number to produce the nine-digit quotient in 13 milliseconds. The 608 could handle 80 program steps. The 608 was supplied with a type 535 card reader/punch which had its own control plugboard. == See also ==