Editing IBM System/3 (section)

==History==
[[File:IBM System3 model 10 (1).jpg|thumb|System/3 processing unit and 5496 keypunch]]
At its launch in 1969 it was available for $1000/month — less than half cost of an [[IBM System/360 Model 20]];<ref>{{cite web
 |url=https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/rochester/rochester_4008.html
 |title=IBM system/3
 |website=IBM Archives
 |date=23 January 2003
 |publisher=IBM
 |access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref> the smallest member of the IBM System/360 family.

Many of the original System/3 model 10 units were shipped diskless, with only the new IBM 5424 Multifunction Card Unit (MFCU) which read, punched, printed on and sorted the new, smaller [[Punched card#IBM 96-column format|96-column punched cards]] introduced at the same time.

IBM delivered the following models:
* 1969 — IBM 5410, or System/3 Model 10, introduced (shipped in 1970)
* 1970 — IBM 5406, or System/3 Model 6, introduced (disk-oriented system)<ref>G520-2370-0 {{cite book
|title=IBM System/3 Model 6 |date=October 1970}}</ref><ref name=System3Model6.NYT1970>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/10/29/archives/ibm-unveils-2-new-computers-systems-aim-at-lowcost-markets.html
|title=I.B.M. Unveils 2 New Computers
|author=William D. Smith |date=October 29, 1970}}</ref>
* 1973 — IBM 5415, or System/3 Model 15, introduced
* 1974 — IBM 5408, or System/3 Model 8, introduced
* 1975 — IBM 5412, or System/3 Model 12, introduced<ref name=System3.NYT75>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]
   |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/07/08/archives/new-computer-model-12-is-announced-by-ibm.html
   |title=New Computer, Model 12, is Announced by I.B.M.
   |date=July 8, 1975}}</ref>
* 1976 — IBM 5404, or System/3 Model 4, introduced

{{Image gallery|title=IBM System/3 models
|File:IBM System3 model 4 (1).jpg|Model 4 (1976) <!--Quite rare model, possible not released -->
|File:IBM System3 model 6 (cropped).jpg|Model 6 (1970)
|File:IBM System3 model 8.jpg|Model 8 (1974)
|File:IBM System3 model 10d.jpg|Model 10D (1969)
|File:IBM System3 (1).jpg|Model 12 (1975)
|File:IBM System3 model 15D.jpg|Model 15D (1973)
}}

The System/3 and successor models [[System/32]], [[System/34]], [[System/36]] and [[System/38]] are generally referred to in IBM terminology as [[IBM midrange computer|"midrange systems"]]<ref>(the rest of the industry would say [[minicomputer]]s)</ref> — in contrast to [[IBM mainframe|IBM's mainframes]].