IBM 610

{{short description|Vacuum tube computer system}}

{{more footnotes|date=February 2010}}

{{Infobox information appliance

| name = IBM 610

| aka = IBM 610 Auto-Point Computer

| logo =

| logo caption =

| image = 610b-soft.jpg

| caption = Control unit of the IBM 610 with keyboard

| developer = John Lentz, as part of his work for the Watson Lab at Columbia University

| manufacturer = IBM

| type = Personal computer

| generation =

| release date = {{Start date and age|1957}}

| baseprice = $55,000 (or rented for $1150 per month ($460 academic))

| units shipped = 180

| os =

| cpu =

| CPUspeed =

| memory =

| RAMtype =

| memory card = Punched paper tape

| weight = {{convert|800|lb|kg}}

| predecessor =

| successor = IBM 1620

}}

The IBM 610 Auto-Point Computer is one of the first personal computers, in the sense of a computer to be used by one person whose previous experience with computing might only have been with desk calculators. It was controlled interactively by a keyboard. The principal designer of this machine was John Lentz, as part of his work for the Watson Lab at Columbia University.

The IBM 610 was introduced in 1957.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZhoP0KRkQe4C&q=IBM+610+1957&pg=PA84|title=PC Mag|date=1984-03-06|publisher=Ziff Davis, Inc.|pages=84|language=en}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6a8_AAAAQBAJ&q=IBM+610+1957&pg=PA176|title=The History of Visual Magic in Computers: How Beautiful Images are Made in CAD, 3D, VR and AR|last=Peddie|first=Jon|date=2013-06-13|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=9781447149323|pages=176|language=en}} It was small enough to easily fit in an office; it weighed about {{convert|800|lb|kg}}.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/BRL61-ibm06.html#IBM-610|title=IBM 610|last=Weik|first=Martin H.|date=Mar 1961|website=ed-thelen.org|series=A Third Survey of Domestic Electronic Digital Computing Systems}} It was designed to be used in a normal office, without any special electrical or air conditioning requirements. It used vacuum tubes, a magnetic drum, and punched paper tape readers and punchers. The input was from a keyboard and output was to an IBM electric typewriter, at eighteen characters per second. It was one of the first computers to be controlled from a keyboard. The term "auto-point" referred to the ability to automatically adjust the decimal point in floating-point arithmetic.

Its price was $55,000, or it could be rented for $1150 per month ($460 academic). IBM made 180 units. It was a slow and limited computer, and was generally replaced by the IBM 1620.