It was an exciting time with the rapid introduction of ever more sophisticated hardware
and software products that truly revolutionized information technology. Examples of such progress were the development of
families of upward compatible computer systems and the advent of highly sophisticated computer operating systems software.
Until the early 1960's, almost all computer models were designed independently for
a particular customer. This meant there was no true upward compatibility that allowed users to easily transition to larger,
faster, and more sophisticated machines.
So when I entered the industry in 1961 as a federal government programmer,
the concept of a computer "operating system" had a different meaning than it does today which is: a complex software
system mediating all interactions between users, application programs, and computer hardware.
Instead, back then, the term "operating system" meant a collection of computer programs, including assemblers, compilers, debugging tools, standard routines for input and output, buffers to "spool" printer and tape output, and utilities designed to load a sequence (or "batch") of programs serially into memory.
But later these stand-alone utilities began to play an increasingly important part in the bundles of hardware, software, and services supplied by computer manufacturers.
So, by the time I joined General Electric in 1966, GE and other computer manufacturers were greatly expanding the concept
of operating system software.
Now computer operating systems began to incorporate most of the functions we recognize
today, including the ability to perform multiple tasks at the same time on a single machine. Before then, users had to schedule
specific tasks such as payroll and inventory to be processed serially one at a time. Thus, the introduction of multidimentionional
operating systems featuring such advances as computer multitasking and multiprocessing made computers increasingly easier to use, more efficient, and more productive.
Following the "golden age" and on into the 1980s, more companies embraced new systems
and new approaches to information processing. Smaller computers were now connected to servers interfaced to networked
PCs instead of "big boxes" crunching numbers in the back room. This "
new
guard" was led by new companies such as Apple and Sun and run by young entrepreneurs wearing sneakers, faded jeans, and long
hair. White dress shirts, neckties, black pinstripe suits, and black shoes with dark socks were no longer the required "uniform
of the day".
Now companies found that servers based on microcomputer designs could be deployed at a fraction of mainframe acquisition costs, yet offer local users much greater control over their
own systems So dumb terminals previously tied to mainframe systems were gradually replaced by personal computers. As all this was happening, demand for
mainframes hit bottom as installations were restricted mainly to financial services and government. Industry
analysts began to view mainframes as technological "dinosaurs" slated for extinction as they were increasingly replaced
by personal computer networks.
What many mainframe critics failed to realize is what Doug Balog, a retired
IBM vice president, recently noted. He pointed out that 70 percent of the world's data are still housed in mainframe computers.
And he predicts that mainframes will continue to be used for a long time, simply because information technology (IT) based on servers and PCs often requires more staff and are more expensive to operate than centralized systems,
Also, a new corporate cost cutting era began in the 1990s helping to fuel a revival
of the mainframe market as corporations found new uses for their mainframes. Tried and true, extremely fast and efficient back
office mainframes such as Nasdaq's Unisys 2200/900 Computer offered web server performance similar to that of hundreds of smaller machines, but with lower power and lower cost per user. The growth of E-Business also increased the number of back end transactions running on mainframe software capable of handling huge
databases.
Consequently, starting about 2004, a mainframe revival was well underway giving
IBM and other mainframe manufacturers healthy revenue increases that harbingers a bright continuing future. So,
in spite of all the predictions, the dinosaurs refuse to die.
