View source for IBM 610

{{short description|Vacuum tube computer system}}
{{more footnotes|date=February 2010}}
{{Infobox information appliance
| name         = IBM 610
| aka          = IBM 610 Auto-Point Computer
| logo         = 
| logo caption = 
| image        = 610b-soft.jpg
| caption      = Control unit of the IBM 610 with keyboard
| developer    = John Lentz, as part of his work for the [[Watson Scientific Computing Laboratory|Watson Lab]] at [[Columbia University]]
| manufacturer = [[IBM]]
| type         = [[Personal computer]]
| generation   = 
| release date = {{Start date and age|1957}}
| baseprice    = $55,000 (or rented for $1150 per month ($460 academic))
| units shipped = 180
| os           = 
| cpu          = 
| CPUspeed     = 
| memory       = 
| RAMtype      = 
| memory card  = [[Punched tape|Punched paper tape]]
| weight       = {{convert|800|lb|kg}}
| predecessor  = 
| successor    = [[IBM 1620]]
}}
The '''IBM 610 Auto-Point Computer''' is one of the first [[personal computer]]s, 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 [[computer keyboard|keyboard]]. The principal designer of this machine was John Lentz, as part of his work for the [[Watson Scientific Computing Laboratory|Watson Lab]] at [[Columbia University]].

The IBM 610 was introduced in 1957.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZhoP0KRkQe4C&q=IBM+610+1957&pg=PA84|title=PC Mag|date=1984-03-06|publisher=Ziff Davis, Inc.|pages=84|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6a8_AAAAQBAJ&q=IBM+610+1957&pg=PA176|title=The History of Visual Magic in Computers: How Beautiful Images are Made in CAD, 3D, VR and AR|last=Peddie|first=Jon|date=2013-06-13|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=9781447149323|pages=176|language=en}}</ref>  It was small enough to easily fit in an office; it weighed about {{convert|800|lb|kg}}.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/BRL61-ibm06.html#IBM-610|title=IBM 610|last=Weik|first=Martin H.|date=Mar 1961|website=ed-thelen.org|series=A Third Survey of Domestic Electronic Digital Computing Systems}}</ref> It was designed to be used in a normal office, without any special electrical or air conditioning requirements.  It used [[vacuum tube]]s, a [[magnetic drum]], and [[Punched tape|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]].

==See also==
*[[List of vacuum-tube computers]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.columbia.edu/acis/history/610.html The IBM 610 Auto-Point Computer]
*[http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/BRL61-ibm06.html#IBM-610 IBM 610 Autopoint Computer] 1961 BRL report
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060910092309/http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/vintage/vintage_4506VV4001.html  IBM Archives: IBM 610 — Auto-Point Computer]
*{{cite web |title=IBM 610 documents |url=http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/610/ |website=www.bitsavers.org}}

{{IBM vacuum tube computers}}

[[Category:IBM vacuum tube computers|610]]
[[Category:Computer-related introductions in 1957]]