Madan wrote in USMA 24100:
> I hope some 1 comes up with a computer which usesdecimal system instead of binary system.> Madan
The IBM 650 and the Burroughs Datatronwere pure decimal computers and were not able to do binary (or octal or hexadecimal) arithmetic. Admitedly they represented ten by four or five binary digits, but they could not add two binary numbers. I believe the IBM 705 and IBM 2010 were also decimal computers. The British Tabulating Company's computer had a radix register that enabled it to work with pounds, shillings and pence or rupees, anas and pice. The IBM System/360 could operate in either a decimal or hexadecimal mode. It is generally more efficient to convert numbers on input from decimal to binary and on output to convert binary numbers to decimal.
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Joseph B. Reid
17 Glebe Road West
Toronto M5P 1C8 Telephone 416-486-6071
