[RndTbl] How much did one second of computer time cost in 1975?

[Adam Thompson]

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 at 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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