The Zuse Z23 was a transistorized computer first delivered in 1961, designed by the Zuse KG company. A total of 98 units were sold to commercial and academic customers up until 1967. It had a 40-bit word length and used an 8192 word drum memory as main storage, with 256 words of rapid-access ferrite memory. It operated on fixed and floating-point binary numbers. Fixed-point addition took 0.3 milliseconds, a fixed point multiplication took 10.3 milliseconds. It was similar in internal design to the earlier vacuum tube Z22. Related variants were the Z25 and Z26 models.[1]
 The Zuse Z23 | |
| Developer | Konrad Zuse |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Zuse KG |
| Release date | 1961 |
| Lifespan | 6 years |
| Introductory price | DM 200,000 (equivalent to DM 480,582 in 2021) |
| Units sold | 98 |
| CPU | 2700 transistors and 7700 diodes @ 150 kHz |
| Memory | 8192 word drum memory as main storage, with 256 words of rapid-access ferrite memory |
| Power | 4000 watts |
| Mass | 1,000 kilograms (1.0 t; 1.1 short tons) |
| Predecessor | Z22 |
| Related | Z25, Z26 |
The Z23 used about 2700 transistors and 7700 diodes. Memory was magnetic-core memory.[2] The Z23 had an Algol 60 compiler. It had a basic clock speed of 150 kHz and consumed about 4000 watts of electric power. An improved version Z23V was released in 1965, with expanded memory and a higher processing speed.
The Z23 weighed about 1,000 kilograms (1.0 t; 1.1 short tons).[3]
References
edit- ^ Stephen H. Kaisler, Birthing the Computer: From Relays to Vacuum Tubes, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2016 ISBN 1443896314, page 21
- ^ Hans Dieter Hellige, ed. (2004). Geschichten der Informatik. Visionen, Paradigmen, Leitmotive (in German). Berlin: Springer. p. 128. ISBN 3-540-00217-0.
- ^ "Z23". www.horst-zuse.homepage.t-online.de.
External links
edit- Z23 Crosses Atlantic
- Computer History Museum Zuse Z23 Archived 2016-10-16 at the Wayback Machine
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