IBM consulted Jacques Perret to name the class of device represented by the Model 650. Perret proposed 'ordinateur', noting its presence in Littré as an adjective designating a God who brings order and its ability to supply a verb, ordiner. He suggested feminine forms such as 'ordinatrice' to match existing female agent names in IBM materials, but the masculine 'ordinateur' prevailed. The term entered common French usage to denote computers. The IBM Model 650 (1953–62) used about 2,000 vacuum tubes, a spinning magnetic drum storing roughly 20,000 digits, and occupied the size of multiple large refrigerators, with the first unit installed in Boston's Old John Hancock Building.
'Dear Sir,' Perret replied, How about ordinateur? It is a correctly formed word, which is even found in Littré [the standard 19th-century French dictionary] as an adjective designating God who brings order to the world. A word of this kind has the advantage of easily supplying a verb, ordiner ... (My translation.) Besides, Perret added, the implicitly feminine connotation already present in IBM's marketing materials could carry over to the new term:
The female reference was not entirely inappropriate. Up until the mid-20th century, the term 'computer' meant an office clerk, usually a woman, performing calculations by hand, or with the help of a mechanical device. IBM's new machine, however, was intended for general information-processing. The masculine and godlike version prevailed. The term soon entered common language. Every computer in France became known as an ordinateur.
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