Il semblerait qu’actuellement le plus vieil ordinateur encore en fonction est le Facom128B (Fujitsu Automatic COMputer) produit en 1958 (on dit aussi en 59 dans certains articles) par Fuji Telecommunications Manufacturing, maintenant Fujitsu. Cet ordinateur était destiné à produire les plans du premier avion japonais pour passagers. La capacité n’était pas plus importante que nos calculatrices de base actuelle, pourtant l’appareil utilisait plus de 65 mètres carré d’espace.

Inutile de vanter la longévité des Japonais, elle est si évidente qu’elle s’applique même à leurs ordinateurs ! Le FACOM 128A, mis au point en 1956 et fabriqué en 1959, est toujours en état de marche à ce jour.

Voici l’histoire et les caractéristique de l’animal :

This was Japan’s first relay-based commercial computer. It was developed in 1956 by Fuji Telecommunications Manufacturing (currently Fujitsu). The machine featured fundamental improvements in circuit operation and the calculation method, developed based on results with the FACOM 100. It was faster, with an arithmetic speed 5 times that of the FACOM 100, and increased memory capacity. Numerical values were represented using the floating point format with a precision of signed decimal 8 digits x characteristic 10±19. The stored program system was not used, and the circuits were controlled asynchronously. Average arithmetic speed for 8 digits was 0.15 seconds for addition/subtraction, 0.3 seconds for multiplication, and 1.2 seconds for division. Circuits for trigonometric functions, inverse trigonometric functions, logarithms and complex number operations were built into the machine, and this increased arithmetic speed and facilitated programming. A self-check function and automatic re-execute function were used due to the issue of relay element reliability. This made the computer highly reliable, and it was widely used not only at universities, but also in industry. Over 30 machines were shipped as practical commercial machines, for use in Japan’s first fee-based computation service (at Yurin Denki Seiki), tail design for the YS11 aircraft, and design of camera lenses. The FACOM 128B, with added capabilities, was developed in 1958. This machine is exhibited in the Ikeda Memorial Hall, Numazu Factory of Fujitsu. Even today, it is thought to be the world’s older operable computer.

Source : IPSJ via Citronet.