Photographs

The 3420/5 Magnetic Tape Subsystem

Academic Facilities

This album is being compiled. The Heritage Centre would appreciate any information that can be provided about the photograph.

in 1973. IIT Madras had installed the powerful new IBM 370 computer system at the Building Sciences Block this year, opening up new opportunities for researchers and computing enthusiasts. 

Campaschimes, the coffee table book about IIT Madras, notes that the tape drives were installed in a hall beyond the card readers (where decks of cards containing programs were submitted for further processing). “The code was compiled and processed in the hall beyond the card reader. The activity in this sanctum sanctorum of the computer centre could be viewed through a large glass partition. There was a space age scene there with tape drives spinning and consoles winking and serious staff members attending to them.”