• 1961

Hardware Description

The IBM 1720 was a pilot project to create a real-time process control computer based on the IBM 1620 Model I.Only three 1720 systems were ever built: one for the Amoco oil refinery in Whiting, Indiana; one for the Socal oil refinery in El Segundo, California; and one for E. I. du Pont in Wilmington, Delaware. All were installed in 1961. The Amoco and Socal systems ran for many years.