Editing IBM 704 (section)

==Memory and peripherals==
[[File:1960 Quinten Johnson.png|thumb|Loading punch card into the [[IBM 711]] reader]]
Controls are included in the 704 for: one [[IBM 711|711 Punched Card Reader]], one [[IBM 716|716 Alphabetic Printer]], one 721 Punched Card Recorder, five [[IBM 727|727]] Magnetic Tape Units and one 753 Tape Control Unit, one 733 [[Drum memory|Magnetic Drum]] Reader and Recorder, and one 737 Magnetic Core Storage Unit. Total weight was about {{Convert|19466|lb|ST MT|1}}.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/BRL-i.html#IBM-704 |title=IBM 704 |last=Weik |first=Martin H. |date=March 1961 |website=ed-thelen.org |series=A Third Survey of Domestic Electronic Digital Computing Systems}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/BRL-i.html#IBM-704 |title=IBM-704 |last=Weik |first=Martin H. |date=December 1955 |website=ed-thelen.org |series=A Survey of Domestic Electronic Digital Computing Systems}}</ref>

The 704 itself came with a control console having 36 assorted control switches or buttons and 36 data-input switches, one for each bit in a register. The control console essentially allows only setting the binary values of the registers with switches and seeing the binary state of the registers displayed in the pattern of many small neon lamps, appearing much like modern LEDs. For human interaction with the computer, programs would be entered on punched cards initially rather than at the console, and human-readable output would be directed to the printer. 

The [[IBM 740]] Cathode Ray Tube Output Recorder was also available, which is a 21-inch [[vector display]] with a very long [[phosphor]] persistence time of 20&nbsp;seconds for human viewing, together with a 7-inch display receiving the same signal as the larger display but with a fast-decaying phosphor designed to be photographed with an attached camera.<ref name="IBM Archives 704">{{cite web |title=IBM Archives: 704 Cathode Ray Tube Output Recorder |date=23 January 2003 |url=http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/701/701_1415bx40.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050119221435/http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/701/701_1415bx40.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 19, 2005 |access-date=10 December 2012}}</ref> 

The 737 Magnetic Core Storage Unit serves as RAM and provides 4,096 36-bit words, the equivalent of 18,432&nbsp;bytes.<ref name="IBM Archives 737">{{cite web |title=IBM Archives: IBM 737 Magnetic core storage unit |date=23 January 2003 |url=http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/701/701_1415bx37.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050119221432/http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/701/701_1415bx37.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 19, 2005 |access-date=10 December 2012}}</ref> The 727 Magnetic Tape Units store over 5&nbsp;million 6-bit characters per reel.