The LGP-30, standing for Librascope General Purpose and then Librascope General Precision, is an early off-the-shelf computer. It was manufactured by the Librascope company of Glendale, California (a division of General Precision Inc.), and sold and serviced by the Royal Precision Electronic Computer Company, a joint venture with the Royal McBee division of the Royal Typewriter Company. The LGP-30 was first manufactured in 1956,[1][2][3] at a retail price of $47,000, equivalent to $530,000 in 2023.[4]
The LGP-30 was commonly referred to as a desk computer. Its height, width, and depth, excluding the typewriter shelf, was 33 by 44 by 26 inches (84 by 112 by 66 cm). It weighed about 800 pounds (360 kg),[5] and was mounted on sturdy casters which facilitated moving the unit.
- ^ "1950-1959 Librazettes". www.librascopememories.com. Librazette: July, 1956 – Royal Precision Plans – LGP-30 Promotion; November, 1956 – LGP-30, Flow Computer Spearhead – Commercial Sales and Production – They're In Production and Paul Coates Will Feature LGP-30 on Dec. TVshows. 1956. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ Flamm, Kenneth (2010-12-01). Creating the Computer: Government, Industry and High Technology. Abstract of Computer Oral History Collection, 1969-1973, 1977, p. 75. Brookings Institution Press. p. 66. ISBN 978-0815707219.
- ^ "Strand v. Librascope, Incorporated, 197 F. Supp. 743 (E.D. Mich. 1961)". Justia Law. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
In November, 1955, (...) two important events occurred. The LGP-30 computer, containing seven MH-10R heads, failed to function correctly at the International Automation Exhibition in Chicago on November 15, 1955. In fact, an LGP-30 computer did not work satisfactorily until March, 1956, and the computer was not offered for sale to the general public until the fall of 1956.
- ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ Weik, Martin H. (January 1964). "LGP 30". ed-thelen.org. A Fourth Survey of Domestic Electronic Digital Computing Systems.