| IBM System/370 Model 148 | |
| Manufacturer: | International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) |
| Family: | System/370 |
| Discontinued: | November 1, 1983 |
| Memory: | One or two megabytes of high-density integrated monolithic processor storage |
| Website: | IBM Archives |
The IBM System/370 Model 148 (and the Model 138[1]) were both announced June 30, 1976[2]
Not only were they both more powerful and better in price/performance than the IBM System/370 Model 145 with a 3145-3 CPU and the IBM System/370 Model 135 with a 3135-3 CPU, respectively, but lower in price.[3]
The 148 and 138,[4] both of which were withdrawn November 1, 1983, were marketed as followups for those wishing to upgrade, respectively, their 370/145 and 370/135 systems.
The 148 had four times the reloadable control storage of the 145,[5] enabling or enhancing features such as:
The 3148 (and the 3138) had a built in service processor, aka known as an IOC, this service processor could directly attach a 3203 printer. The IOC also drives an IBM 3277 display console, whereas the older 3145 used an IBM 3215 typewriter console.
A new model of the IBM 3203 printer family, the Model 4, was announced. Rated at 1200 lines/minute (LPM), it was intended to provide already-available 1200 LPM printing, but in a more compact form.
Sometimes known as in-the-field upgrades,[8] this is a capability that even recently was not universal.[9]
IBM could upgrade a 370/145 that had been field-upgraded to a 145-2, resulting in a 145-3. This was a major accomplishment, compared to what is known as a "forklift upgrade" out with the old, in with the new, often consuming valuable time.[10] [11]
An industry research firm said "may be described as early 380s programmed to act like 370s"[12]