The Main in the Frame Stays Mainly In The IB … Aim?

Chaos Lever Podcast

Remember the movie **Hackers** and its fictional supercomputer, The Gibson? While The Gibson might be fantasy, mainframes are still very much a reality in our modern computing world!

In this episode, we'll journey through some legendary Hollywood computers, like the WOPR from *War Games*, before zooming into the real-world star of the show: IBM's **z17** mainframe, powered by the *insanely powerful* Telum II chip. Yes, IBM is still cranking out new mainframes, and guess what? Banks, airlines, and more are still using them!

And did you know 2024 marks the **60th anniversary** of IBM's **System/360**? We’ll explore why this groundbreaking machine changed computing forever and how mainframes remain relevant today – from handling *huge* data loads to their legendary reliability and security.

🖥️ Why do mainframes still exist in a world full of cloud computing and Linux? 🤔 What makes these machines the go-to choice for big institutions like banks and airlines? We'll break it down for you and take a nostalgic stroll through computing history.

Links:
- **Magnetic Core Memory:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic-core_memory
- **System/360:** https://www.ibm.com/history/system-360
- **Mainframes are relevant!** https://futurumgroup.com/insights/mainframe-trends-in-2024-navigating-innovation
- **Telum II Chip:** https://www.nextplatform.com/2024/08/27/ibm-shows-off-next-gen-ai-acceleration-on-chip-dpu-for-big-iron
- **What is a mainframe?** https://www.ibm.com/topics/mainframe