 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(February 2010) |
 Control unit of the IBM 610 with keyboard | |
| Also known as | IBM 610 Auto-Point Computer |
|---|---|
| Developer | John Lentz, as part of his work for the Watson Lab at Columbia University |
| Manufacturer | IBM |
| Type | Personal computer |
| Release date | 1957 |
| Introductory price | $55,000 (or rented for $1150 per month ($460 academic)) |
| Units shipped | 180 |
| Removable storage | Punched paper tape |
| Weight | 800 pounds (360 kg) |
| Successor | IBM 1620 |
The IBM 610 Auto-Point Computer is one of the first personal computers, in the sense of a computer to be used by one person whose previous experience with computing might only have been with desk calculators. It was controlled interactively by a keyboard. The principal designer of this machine was John Lentz, as part of his work for the Watson Lab at Columbia University.
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The IBM 610 was introduced in 1957. [1] [2] It was small enough to easily fit in an office; it weighed about 800 pounds (360 kg). [3] It was designed to be used in a normal office, without any special electrical or air conditioning requirements. It used vacuum tubes, a magnetic drum, and punched paper tape readers and punchers. The input was from a keyboard and output was to an IBM electric typewriter, at eighteen characters per second. It was one of the first computers to be controlled from a keyboard. The term "auto-point" referred to the ability to automatically adjust the decimal point in floating-point arithmetic.
Its price was $55,000, or it could be rented for $1150 per month ($460 academic). IBM made 180 units. It was a slow and limited computer, and was generally replaced by the IBM 1620.