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Comment by kens | Hacker News Reader

Author here: I've finally finished a detailed history of IBM's 4 Pi computers, powering everything from the B-1 bomber to the Space Shuttle. Let me know if you have questions...

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just one: why it named System/4 Pi ? (the Pi part especially)

The name is essentiallly a geometry joke. The IBM System/360 line of mainframes (1964) revolutionized the computer industry with the concept of one family of computers for all applications: business and scientific. (Before the 360, nobody considered compatibility, so different computer models were entirely incompatible, which was a mess.) The name symbolized that System/360 covered the full 360º of applications.

The 4 Pi name extended this idea to applications in the 3-dimensional world: 4π is the number of steradians making up a full sphere. As IBM put it, "System/4 Pi also fills a sphere—the full spectrum of military computer needs—for airborne, space, or shipboard use."

My local carwash's top-end wash is called the "Ultimate 360°", despite the fact that it obviously cleans the entire surface area of the car, and I'm simultaneously annoyed by the name and reminded of the System/4 Pi.

And a follow up, was the Raspberry Pi named as a joke reference to these?

Could a single person lift the complete set of manuals for one computer model?

And what percentage of the pages of the manual said "this page intentionally left blank"?

Are there any similar parallel series in China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Russia or the UK that you have had a chance to study?

I'd like to study aerospace systems from other countries. Unfortunately, it's even harder to get information on foreign systems than US systems.

You mentioned in the post that you "received a stack of 4 Pi marketing brochures and articles". Do you plan to scan these and place them on your website or the Internet Archive? I'd love to read them!

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