IBM 1400 series

IBM 1400 series

IBM 1401 Data Processing System, the first member of the 1400 series
Type	minicomputer/ small mainframe
Release date	1959; 65 years ago (1959)
Predecessor	IBM 407
Successor	IBM 8000 (not released) IBM midrange computers
Related	IBM 700/7000 series IBM 1130

The IBM 1400 series are second-generation (transistor) mid-range business decimal computers that IBM marketed in the early 1960s. The computers were offered to replace tabulating machines like the IBM 407. The 1400-series machines stored information in magnetic cores as variable-length character strings separated on the left by a special bit, called a "wordmark," and on the right by a "record mark." Arithmetic was performed digit-by-digit. Input and output support included punched card, magnetic tape, and high-speed line printers. Disk storage was also available.

Many members of the series could be used as independent systems, as extensions to IBM punched-card equipment, or as auxiliary equipment to other computer systems. Some, however, were intended for specific applications or were economical only as independent systems.