Hi, This seems to have cost data from 1975 to 1985. Hopefully it is relevant info. Vijay Monthly Labor Review - Volume 109, Issue 9 - Page 10books.google.ca › books <https://books.google.ca/books?id=2BaU-56SOfUC&pg=PA10&dq=how+much+did+mainframe+computer+usage+cost+in+1975&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjmuN3g-OjzAhU0Ln0KHWNeAHYQ6AF6BAgEEAI> 1986 FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 10 Domestic consumption of micro , mini , and mainframe computers , " 1960–84 [ Dollars in millions ) Table 4. ... declining component costs , and other technical developments led to the introduction of the personal computer in 1975. Vijay Sankar ForeTell Technologies Limited vsankar@foretell.ca

On Oct 26, 2021, at 12:00 PM, roundtable-request@muug.ca wrote:

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Today's Topics:

1. How much did one second of computer time cost in 1975? (Brian Lowe) 2. Re: How much did one second of computer time cost in 1975? (Adam Thompson) 3. Re: How much did one second of computer time cost in 1975? (Adam Thompson) 4. Re: How much did one second of computer time cost in 1975? (Scott Toderash)

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Message: 1 Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2021 20:56:07 -0500 From: Brian Lowe <brian2@groupbcl.ca> To: roundtable@muug.ca Subject: [RndTbl] How much did one second of computer time cost in 1975? Message-ID: <7988573.jIZ38J7S2z@haremya.renyamon.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hello all,

Today with multi-core CPUs running at gigahertz speeds attached to gigabytes of RAM and terabytes of disc space, we're well used to running programs that require what would be enormous resources back when mainframes ruled the data centre.

My question is "how much did one second of computer time cost in 1975?" This assumes the program in question is being run on a mainframe from IBM or any of the other manufacturers of the day. Of course, there are a lot of factors to consider: leasing costs, staffing, power and cooling, if the system could run more than one program simultaneously, and how computer time was charged back to the users.

I'm interested to know if anyone on this list has had experience with this sort of system accounting, and if they can recall some numbers.

Regards, Brian

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Message: 2 Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2021 00:17:13 -0500 From: Adam Thompson <athompso@athompso.net> To: Continuation of Round Table discussion <roundtable@muug.ca>, Brian Lowe <brian2@groupbcl.ca>, roundtable@muug.ca Subject: Re: [RndTbl] How much did one second of computer time cost in 1975? Message-ID: <960940F4-55CD-4317-AD32-A7323D611243@athompso.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

There are many people here who used the UofM mainframe back when it was updated on a chargeback system (including me, sadly, although my Dept paid the bill, not me). Of course I didn't keep a copy of the rate sheet, so I don't remember what 1sec cost. It wouldn't quite be the fully-loaded cost you describe, but it would be close - I don't think Computer Services was expected to turn a profit back in 1991. -Adam

On October 25, 2021 8:56:07 p.m. CDT, Brian Lowe <brian2@groupbcl.ca> wrote:

...

Hello all,

Today with multi-core CPUs running at gigahertz speeds attached to gigabytes of RAM and terabytes of disc space, we're well used to running programs that require what would be enormous resources back when mainframes ruled the data centre.

My question is "how much did one second of computer time cost in 1975?" This assumes the program in question is being run on a mainframe from IBM or any of the other manufacturers of the day. Of course, there are a lot of factors to consider: leasing costs, staffing, power and cooling, if the system could run more than one program simultaneously, and how computer time was charged back to the users.

I'm interested to know if anyone on this list has had experience with this sort of system accounting, and if they can recall some numbers.

Regards, Brian

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