if that's truly from 1957, the whole setup would have several pieces that size. the 803 a few years later was three (one about this size, two a little smaller), plus user console, printer, tape reader. nearly 2000 lbs worth of equipment.

[–] fizzle@quokk.au 25 points 2 days ago (6 children)

I don't know but my supposition is that the ras pi pictured is several powers of magnitude more powerful than the 803.

[–] marcos@lemmy.world 30 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (5 children)

It certainly is.

From the wiki:

"It uses ferrite magnetic-core memory in 4096 or 8192 words of 40 bits, comprising 39 bits of data with parity."

So a whooping 39kB of memory on the largest option!

"Tape is read at 500 characters per second and punched at 100 cps."

Compare that with a micro-SD...

"The bit time is 6 microseconds, jumps execute in 288 microseconds and simple arithmetic instructions in 576 microseconds."

And it run and an incredible speed of 1 to 3kHz!

(And this is overselling the computer, it was slower than what the numbers appear.)

[–] creamfresh@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

Actually insane that it is so powerful at that time, without transistors.

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