Editing IBM 7030 Stretch (section)

{{Short description|First IBM supercomputer using dedicated transistors}}
{{Infobox supercomputer
| name         = IBM Stretch
| image        = IBM 7030-CNAM 22480-IMG 5115-gradient.jpg
| caption      = IBM 7030 maintenance console at the ''[[Musée des Arts et Métiers]]'', Paris
| manufacturer = [[IBM]]
| designer     = [[Gene Amdahl]]
| release date = May 1961
| units sold   = 9
| price        = US$7,780,000 ({{Inflation|US|7780000|1961|fmt=eq|r=-4}})
| dimensions   = 
| weight       = {{convert|70000|lb|ST MT}}<ref name="BRLreport61">[http://www.ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/BRL61-ibm7070.html#IBM-STRETCH BRL Report 1961]</ref>
| power        = 100 [[Kilowatt|kW]]<ref name="BRLreport61"/>
| voltage      = 110 V
| os           = MCP
| cpu          = [[64-bit]] processor
| frequency    = 
| memory       = 128 to 2048 [[kilobytes]] (16,384 x 64 to 262,144 x 64 bits)<ref name="BRLreport61"/>
| storage      = 
| mips         = 1.2 MIPS
| flops        = 
| successor    = 
| predecessor  = 
}}
[[File:IBM Model 7030 "Stretch" console, 1961, Computer History Museum.jpg|thumb|Operator console at the [[Computer History Museum]]]]
The '''IBM 7030''', also known as '''Stretch''', was [[IBM]]'s first [[Transistor computer|transistorized]] [[supercomputer]]. It was the fastest computer in the world from 1961 until the first [[CDC 6600]] became operational in 1964.<ref name=AcadBook>"Designed by Seymour Cray, the CDC 6600 was almost three times faster than the next fastest machine of its day, the IBM 7030 Stretch." {{cite book
|title=Making a World of Difference: Engineering Ideas into Reality
|url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0309312655  |isbn=978-0309312653
|publisher=[[National Academy of Engineering]]   |date=2014}}</ref><ref>"In 1964 Cray's CDC 6600 replaced Stretch as the fastest computer on earth." {{cite book
|title=EXPERT SYSTEMS, KNOWLEDGE ENGINEERING FOR HUMAN REPLICATION
|url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1291595090  |isbn=978-1291595093
|author=Andreas Sofroniou  |date=2013| publisher=Lulu.com }}</ref>

Originally designed to meet a requirement formulated by [[Edward Teller]] at [[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory]], the first example was delivered to [[Los Alamos National Laboratory]] in 1961, and a second customized version, the [[IBM 7950 Harvest]], to the [[National Security Agency]] in 1962. The Stretch at the [[Atomic Weapons Research Establishment]] at [[RAF Aldermaston|Aldermaston]], England was heavily used by researchers there and at [[Atomic Energy Research Establishment|AERE Harwell]], but only after the development of the S2 [[Fortran]] compiler which was the first to add [[dynamic array]]s, and which was later ported to the [[Atlas (computer)|Ferranti Atlas]] of [[Atlas Computer Laboratory]] at Chilton.<ref name="Some Early UK FORTRAN Compilers">{{cite web |url=http://www.fortran.bcs.org/2007/jubilee/earlyukcompilers.php |title=Some Early UK FORTRAN Compilers}}</ref><ref name="HARTRAN Overview">{{cite web |url=http://www.chilton-computing.org.uk/acl/applications/hartran/overview.htm |title=HARTRAN Overview}}</ref>

The 7030 was much slower than expected and failed to meet its aggressive performance goals. IBM was forced to drop its price from $13.5 million to only $7.78 million and withdrew the 7030 from sales to customers beyond those having already negotiated contracts.  ''[[PC World]]'' magazine named Stretch one of the biggest project management failures in [[Information technology|IT]] history.<ref name="PCWorld Project Failures">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.pcworld.com/article/152103/it_project_failures.html |title=Lessons Learned: IT's Biggest Project Failures |magazine=[[PCWorld]] |author-last=Widman |author-first=Jake |date=October 9, 2008 |access-date=October 23, 2012}}</ref>

Within IBM, being eclipsed by the smaller [[Control Data Corporation]] seemed hard to accept.<ref>As noted in the famous "Janitor" memo, wherein IBM CEO T. J. Watson Jr asked "why we have lost our industry leadership" to "34 people, including the janitor."{{cite web |url=http://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/supercomputers/10/33/62	|title=Watson Jr. memo about CDC 6600 |date=August 28, 1963}}</ref> The project lead, [[Stephen W. Dunwell]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/builders/builders_dunwell.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060904123924/http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/builders/builders_dunwell.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 4, 2006 |title=IBM Archives: Stephen W. Dunwell |publisher=[[IBM]]}}</ref> was initially made a scapegoat for his role in the "failure" but,<ref>"Stretch was considered a commercial failure, and Dunwell was sent into ..." {{cite web 
|url=https://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2010/12/102128-ibms-single-processor-supercomputer-efforts
|title=IBM's Single-Processor Supercomputer Efforts
|first1=Mark  |last1=Smotherman  |first2=Dag  |last2=Spicer|date=December 2010
}}</ref> after the success of the [[IBM System/360]] became obvious, he received an official apology, and in 1966 was made an [[IBM Fellow]].<ref>" to pursue any research he wished." {{cite news
|newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 24, 1994 
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/24/obituaries/s-w-dunwell-80-engineer-at-ibm-designed-computers.html
|title=S. W. Dunwell, 80, Engineer at I.B.M.; Designed Computers
|author=Wolfgang Saxon}}</ref>

In spite of the failure of Stretch to meet IBM's performance goals, it served as the basis for many of the design features of the successful IBM System/360, which was announced in 1964 and first shipped in 1965.