The following is the text of an IBM Data Processing Division press release 
distributed on April 7, 1964. 

A new generation of electronic computing equipment was introduced today by 
International Business Machines Corporation. 

IBM Board Chairman Thomas J. Watson Jr. called the event the most important 
product announcement in the company's history. 

The new equipment is known as the IBM System/360. 

It combines microelectronic technology, which makes possible operating speeds 
measured in billionths of a second, with significant advances in the concepts of 
computer organization. 

At a press conference at the company's Poughkeepsie facilities, Mr. Watson said: 

"System/360 represents a sharp departure from concepts of the past in designing 
and building computers. It is the product of an international effort in IBM's 
laboratories and plants and is the first time IBM has redesigned the basic 
internal architecture of its computers in a decade. The result will be more 
computer productivity at lower cost than ever before. This is the beginning of a 
new generation - - not only of computers - - but of their application in 
business, science and government." 

More than 100,000 businessmen in 165 American cities today attended meetings at 
which System/360 was announced. 
Single system 

System/360 is a single system spanning the performance range of virtually all 
current IBM computers - - from the widely used 1401 to nearly twice that of the 
most powerful computer previously built by the company. It was developed to 
perform information handling jobs encompassing all types of applications. 

System/360 includes in its central processors 19 combinations of graduated speed 
and memory capacity. Incorporated with these are more than 40 types of 
peripheral equipment which store information and enter it into and retrieve it 
from the computer. Built-in communications capability makes System/360 available 
to remote terminals, regardless of distance. 

The equipment is supported by programs which enable System/360 to schedule its 
own activities for non-stop computing that makes most efficient use of system 
capabilities. 

Internal processing power of the largest System/360 configuration is 
approximately 50 times greater than that of the smallest. The system's machine 
cycle time - - basic pulse beat of a computer - - ranges from one millionth-of-a-second 
to only 200 billionths-of-a-second. 

System/360 core storage memory capacity ranges from 8,000 characters of 
information to more than 8,000,000. Information storage devices linked to the 
system can store additional billions of characters of data and make them 
available for processing at varying speeds, depending on need. 

It is the balancing of these factors - - all available within a single system 
using one set of programming instructions - - that will make it possible for a 
user to select a configuration suited to his own requirements for both 
commercial and scientific computing. With the same type of input/output devices, 
a user can expand his System/360 to any point in its performance range, without 
reprogramming. 
Computer advances 

Some of the most significant advances represented by the new IBM System/360 
include: 

Solid Logic Technology. Microelectronic circuits -- product of IBM's Solid Logic 
Technology -- make up the system's basic componentry. System/360 is the first 
commercially available data processing system whose design is based on the use 
of microminiaturized computer circuits.

Called logic circuits because they carry and control the electrical impulses 
which represent information within a computer, these tiny devices operate at 
speeds ranging from 300 down to six billionths-of-a-second. Transistors and 
diodes mounted on the circuits are only 28 thousandths-of-an-inch square and are 
protected by a film of glass 60 millionths-of-an-inch thick. 

Memory power. A hierarchy of memories within System/360 makes information in 
core storage available at varying speeds. Small local store memories operate in 
as little as 200 billionths-of-a-second. Control memories operate in as little 
as 250 billionths-of-a-second. Powerful main memories - - containing up to 524,000 
characters of information - - range from 2.5 millionths-of-a-second down to one 
millionth-of-a-second.

A key development provides 8,000,000 characters in bulk core storage - - each 
character available in eight millionths-of-a-second and each at the direct 
command of a computer programmer. This is over sixty times more directly 
addressable characters than were previously available in IBM computers. The 
computer's historic limitations on memory size are overcome by this development. 

Application versatility. The traditional distinction between computers for 
commercial and scientific use is eliminated in System/360. Users will be able to 
process both business and scientific problems, or a combination of the two, with 
equal effectiveness. This versatility is reinforced by the variety of peripheral 
equipment which is part of the system. 

Communications capability. Built into System/360 is the ability to respond to 
inquiries and messages from remote locations at any time. Hundreds of terminal 
devices can communicate simultaneously with a system while the computer 
continues to process the basic job on which it is working. 

System/360 monthly rentals will range from $2,700 for a basic configuration to $115,000 
for a typical large multisystem configuration. Comparable purchase prices range 
from $133,000 to $5,500,000. 

Deliveries of the small configurations of System/360 are scheduled to begin in 
the third quarter of 1965. Deliveries of the largest configurations are 
scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 1966.