They're Catching Up

Ever since the first computer began its ominous whirring, human beings have been hopefully reassuring one another that they still have a big lead over machines in the ability to learn from experience and to make decisions in unfamiliar situations. Last week in Chicago. Purdue University's Professor John E. Gibson, 36, warned the businessmen and scientists assembled for the National Electronics Conference that man's lead over the machine might soon be drastically narrowed. Working together with seven other Purdue professors and 60 graduate students, Gibson is preparing to "mate" an analogue computer, which solves mathematical problems in a flash, with a digital computer, which possesses a superior "memory." Gibson's belief is that when the combined machines encounter a strange situation, they will be able to reason out a solution for it on the strength of their recorded memory of experiences with related problems in the past. The Purdue crew anticipates that the coupled computer systems will be working together well enough to tackle practical problems by late 1964. One possible assignment for them: traveling aboard a spacecraft to scout out the unknown and possibly hostile surfaces of other planets.

For the earthbound, International Business Machines Corp. last week introduced what it considers the most economical "true" computer on the market--the "1440." Designed for small and medium-sized businesses, the 1440 operates with a series of inexpensive and interchangeable 14-in. disks that permit it to store hundreds of millions of facts and to perform a wide variety of sophisticated calculations, including those involved in inventory control and profit and loss analysis. Rental: about $2,600 a month, 40% below the smallest business computer previously manufactured by IBM.

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