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Reblogged by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen"):

kenshirriff@oldbytes.space ("Ken Shirriff") wrote:

What is the origin of the word "mainframe"? Digging through archives, I traced it back to 1953. The IBM 701 computer was built from "frames": power frames, a storage frame, a drum frame, and the main frame. This 1953 drawing from the Installation Manual shows the dimensions of the "main frame". 1/n

Attachments:

• A line drawing of the IBM 701's "main frame", showing its physical dimensions and how the frame swings open. The drawing is dated 3-4-53. The drawing is from the document "Type 701 EDPM Installation Manual", obtained from the Computer History Museum archives. (remote)