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 - ThreadSky

righto.com • 30 days ago

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

Comments

joocifer.bsky.social•30 days ago

excellent info as usual, thx

pseudopigraphia.bsky.social•30 days ago

Great historical note. I have used the term "mainframe" for over 50 years without knowing where it came from.

Thank you.

migueldeicaza.bsky.social•29 days ago

This thread is amazing, thank you for sharing with us.

settorezero.com•30 days ago

oh cool! Didn't know about that name origin. Everybody knows about the origin of "bug" but not this

righto.com•30 days ago

IBM's construction of computers from frames was a major innovation: the frames fit through doors and were transportable. Earlier computers were often constructed in place and difficult to move. Photo shows an IBM 701 at GE with frames for power and drum storage, and main frame in the center.

righto.com•30 days ago

IBM's engineering documentation extensively used the term "main frame". The documentation described the location of each tube in the system. The abbreviation "MF" indicated the tube was in the main frame, as in the schematic diagram. 3/n

righto.com•30 days ago

From the 1950s to the 1980s, the word "mainframe" indicated the physical box or cabinet that held the computer. Even a personal computer had a "mainframe". 4/n

righto.com•30 days ago

At the same time, "mainframe" took on a different but related meaning: a computer's CPU (central processing unit). By the 1980s, however, this definition faded away: a book stated: "According to the official definition, 'mainframe' and 'CPU' are synonyms. Nobody uses the word mainframe that way."

righto.com•30 days ago

With the development of the minicomputer and the microcomputer in the 1970s, "mainframe" moved towards its modern meaning, with computers partitioned into micros, minis, and mainframes. IBM started using "mainframe" as a marketing term in the mid-1980s; e.g. calling the S/390 "mainframe class". 6/n

righto.com•30 days ago

Analyzing newspapers shows the rise and fall of the term "mainframe". The term became popular during the 1980s. At the end of the 1990s, as the popularity of mainframe computers dropped, usage of the term steeply dropped too. 7/n

rickmarriner.com•30 days ago

Cool! Fascinating how language evolves—what started as a literal structural reference became shorthand for an entire class of computing. From hardware frames to metaphorical backbones, “mainframe” now carries the weight of history and legacy systems alike.

#EtymologyOfTech
#FromFramesToFunction

eddierigger.bsky.social•28 days ago

Amazing what you learn!

swheatley.bsky.social•29 days ago

📌

drhotpocket.bsky.social•29 days ago

📌

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