IBM debuts 2nm device with 50 billion transistors: IBM, who has probably contributed more to basic electronic/computer research than any other company, has debuted a 2nm process device...

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

IBM, who has probably contributed more to basic electronic/computer research than any other company, has debuted a 2nm process device with 50 billion transistors: https://www.hpcwire.com/2021/05/06/ibm-research-debuts-2nm-test-chip-with-50-billion-transistors/

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

TriX wrote:

IBM, who has probably contributed more to basic electronic/computer research than any other company, has debuted a 2nm process device with 50 billion transistors: https://www.hpcwire.com/2021/05/06/ibm-research-debuts-2nm-test-chip-with-50-billion-transistors/

And to think that the original computers took up whole floors in buildings.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

Longshadow wrote:

And to think that the original computers took up whole floors in buildings.

And didn’t do as much as a smartphone does today.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Longshadow wrote:

And to think that the original computers took up whole floors in buildings.

Yep, when I started at IBM in the mid 60s, we replaced a giant Univac vacuum tube computer at the Univ of N.C. with a 360 system that took up about 5% of the room (and got rid of most of the A/C plant which was almost as large). Today, I probably have a thousand x the compute power and storage on my phone (the 360 had 32 KB of core storage)

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Mac wrote:

And didn’t do as much as a smartphone does today.

Hahaha. NOT IN THE SLIGHTEST!

Reminds me of back in 1976-
My wife asked me what I was doing, I said designing a computer (board up).
She said why do you want to do that?
I replied, "Just wait, in a few years they'll be all over the place like pocket calculators.".
She said "Nah"...

And here we are.....
Pocket computers.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

TriX wrote:

Yep, when I started at IBM in the mid 60s, we replaced a giant Univac vacuum tube computer at the Univ of N.C. with a 360 system that took up about 5% of the room (and got rid of most of the A/C plant which was almost as large). Today, I probably have a thousand x the compute power and storage on my phone (the 360 had 32 KB of core storage)

Interesting.
From 1972 to 1977 I worked at Univac in the R&D department for magnetic storage devices (disk and tape).
The original disk drives were SO large (the size of a coffee table and 3-4 feet tall), and didn't store much, now look at the size of disk drives. The disk heads in one were about an inch square. Now you basically can't see a head without a magnifying glass.
They've come a long way baby.

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

TriX wrote:

Yep, when I started at IBM in the mid 60s, we replaced a giant Univac vacuum tube computer at the Univ of N.C. with a 360 system that took up about 5% of the room (and got rid of most of the A/C plant which was almost as large). Today, I probably have a thousand x the compute power and storage on my phone (the 360 had 32 KB of core storage)

I worked for IBM also. Great company. Love my pension check monthly.I understand that IBM now uses Apple laptops and desktops. More reliable and less cost to repair

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

PixelStan77 wrote:

I worked for IBM also. Great company. Love my pension check monthly.I understand that IBM now uses Apple laptops and desktops. More reliable and less cost to repair

I’ve been gone from IBM for a long time, but worked with them on several BlueGene supercomputing installations. We assembled one of the world’s first 1 PFlop machines at Argonne National labs.

I dunno about the MacBooks (although I liked my MacBook Air to fly with because of the weight). Although I do understand some locations used them, but here at RTP, NC, everyone was using ThinkPads (since they were built here before the sold the laptop business to Lenovo). Funny story: My neighbor was an IBM middle manager in SW/networking development and they gave him a ThinkPad with OS/2 installed. After months of frustration, he came over one afternoon and asked me if I would install Windows on his machine.

williejoha

The report I read talked about 4 no.
WJH

PaulBrit Loc: Merlin, Southern Oregon

I was another IBM employee in the U.K. IBM Office Products division selling the IBM Selectric typewriter and very early Word Processing systems. I joined in late 1970 and left in 1978 to start my own business selling the early Commodore computer. Seems like another era but I, too, love the pension!

wham121736 Loc: Long Island, New York

I started working at the T.J. Watson Research Center when it first opened And retired 27 years later. I remember their first solid state device and worked later at the East Fishkill Electron Beam Lithography (EBL) Facility. As I recall 256nm devices were a challenge then. IBM was a wonderful place to work and I woke up mornings anxious to try out ideas my mind created during the night!

TriX wrote:

IBM, who has probably contributed more to basic electronic/computer research than any other company, has debuted a 2nm process device with 50 billion transistors: https://www.hpcwire.com/2021/05/06/ibm-research-debuts-2nm-test-chip-with-50-billion-transistors/

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

wham121736 wrote:

I started working at the T.J. Watson Research Center when it first opened And retired 27 years later. I remember their first solid state device and worked later at the East Fishkill Electron Beam Lithography (EBL) Facility. As I recall 256nm devices were a challenge then. IBM was a wonderful place to work and I woke up mornings anxious to try out ideas my mind created during the night!

I remeber visting some fellow at the research center on a project. When I left I noticed he had bones in his office. I asked him about it and it was some project he was working on for the Mayo clinic.People dressed very casual at that center.

Fredrick Loc: Former NYC, now San Francisco Bay Area

Longshadow wrote:

Interesting.
From 1972 to 1977 I worked at Univac in the R&D department for magnetic storage devices (disk and tape).
The original disk drives were SO large (the size of a coffee table and 3-4 feet tall), and didn't store much, now look at the size of disk drives. The disk heads in one were about an inch square. Now you basically can't see a head without a magnifying glass.
They've come a long way baby.

In 1968 my first computer job was as a computer operator at Colgate-Palmolive, in NYC. I processed the payroll for the entire company (25,000 employees) on a Univac 1004 processor. Paychecks were every two weeks because “it took me two weeks” to rewire the processor board, create new punch cards, sort them, and produce the checks. All the punch cards were in one room, and I often wondered what would happen if those punch cards were inadvertently destroyed.
I then installed a new payroll system on an IBM 360, and was able to get payroll checks out weekly.

Brucej67 Loc: Cary, NC

TriX wrote:

Yep, when I started at IBM in the mid 60s, we replaced a giant Univac vacuum tube computer at the Univ of N.C. with a 360 system that took up about 5% of the room (and got rid of most of the A/C plant which was almost as large). Today, I probably have a thousand x the compute power and storage on my phone (the 360 had 32 KB of core storage)

Worked on an IBM 401 then went to an IBM 360 30, 60 and on till I didn't know what mainframe I was working on only knew it was MVS. !990's crossed over to servers and PC market and handled legacy systems. What a ride and it all started with IBM.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

PixelStan77 wrote:

...People dressed very casual at that center.

Boy, that wasn’t true for CEs (customer engineers - now we call them system engineers) or salespeople. When I started, it was dark suits (some divisions even had “approved suits” each year), white shirts, conservative ties and shoes and NEVER any smoking in front of customers (in an era when probably over half the population smoked).

The first day I started, I thought I was very well dressed in a collegiate style: Glenn Paid Corbin slacks, yellow Hathaway shirt, Paisley tie and a nice blazer. Everyone in the hundred person office turned and stared at me. It was a sea of white shirts and conservative ties. Intimidating. That afternoon I went to the store and bought a dark suit, white shirts, conservative ties and black tie up shoes. Next day no one noticed me.