IBM's mini computerslack thereof 822

I think they (IBM) ignored the low-end of the market. Instead of selling machines like a commodity item to OEM's, they tended to focus more on the end-user application.

DEC and Data General didn't really sell computers; they sold intelligent controllers for machine tools, printing presses, CAT scanners, nuclear power plants, and laboratory data-acquisition gear. A whole lot of DEC machines replaced an even greater number of switches, relays and volt meters. I don't think that IBM thought in those terms.

The 1130 with the MFCM wasn't much of a batch machine. I always thought of it as more of a minicomputer than a mainframe. The 1620 falls into the same clbutt, more or less, a single-user single-task machine that fits into a fairly small room. Industrial versions of the 1620 (1801?) filled much of the niche that the pdp-8 grabbed later on. System-3 spent most of its time emulating tab equipment.

IBM also built a number of special-purpose minicomputers based on the System-360 architecture. The AP101 GPC used on the space shuttle prior to the Challenger accident looked an awful lot like a 360. It also resembles the IBM avionics package found in the F-15. Both were programmed using a language called HAL (High-Level buttembly Language) or HAL-S in the case of the space shuttle.

IBM did a lot of systems integration that the other companies didn't do. When the FAA bought an IBM-360 for air-traffic control, it was hooked up to a whole mess of gear made by companies like Raytheon and Harris. IBM also had the experience to deal with the government procurement process. The only company with similar experience in selling high-end (even if brain-damaged) systems to the government was Sperry (gyroscopes) Remington (firearms, typewriters, razors) Univac (Univac's).