The Evolution of Computing
Just for funzies
Back in the day (1970s), the IBM System/370 was a beast, running entire businesses like banks, governments, and insurance companies. It had a massive (for its time) 512 KB of RAM and, at its peak, could handle 1 MIPS (millions of instructions per second). But let’s compare that to your shiny iPhone 15:
Memory: The iPhone 15 has a whopping 8 GB of RAM. That’s 16,384 times the memory of an IBM System/370. To put that into perspective, it’s like having the brainpower of 16,000 mainframes in your pocket.
Storage: The top-end iPhone 15 has 512 GB of storage, which is five times larger than the IBM System/370's maximum of 100 MB. You could store all the data from thousands of mainframes and still have space for your Netflix downloads.
Processing Power: The iPhone 15 crushes the IBM System/370’s 1 MIPS by delivering 500,000 MIPS. That’s not just an upgrade; it's a cosmic leap—your iPhone is 500,000 times faster.
Size: The IBM System/370 was 1.9 meters tall (6.3 feet) and weighed a hefty 1,500 kg (3,307 lbs), requiring a dedicated room to house it and a full air-conditioning system to cool the beast. Meanwhile, the iPhone 15 is just 14.7 cm tall (5.78 inches) and weighs 221 grams (0.49 lbs)—it’s 6,780 times lighter and fits in your pocket!
Power Consumption: The IBM System/370 needed 60 kW of electricity (including its cooling), about the same as powering 600 homes for an hour. In contrast, the iPhone 15 uses a mere 5 watts during use, meaning you’d need 12,000 iPhones to match the power draw of one IBM 370.
Price: The IBM System/370 set you back a massive USD 5 million back in the day (that’s around USD 30 million today after inflation!). Meanwhile, an iPhone 15 costs about USD 1,200. So, for just one IBM System/370, you could buy 20,000 iPhones.
So, theoretically, with the computing power of a single iPhone 15, you could run the operations of thousands of 1970’s large businesses that once relied on room-sized mainframes. Instead of needing a power-hungry, air-conditioned room to manage payroll, inventory, accounting, and even early online banking, you could do it all on the phone you use to take selfies.
It’s safe to say that if you handed an iPhone 15 to a 1970s IT manager, they’d probably ask if it was an alien artifact. 🌍👽