<s>
ReserVec	B-Device
was	O
a	O
computerized	B-Application
reservation	I-Application
system	I-Application
developed	O
by	O
Ferranti	O
Canada	O
for	O
Trans-Canada	O
Airlines	O
(	O
TCA	O
,	O
today	O
's	O
Air	O
Canada	O
)	O
in	O
the	O
late	O
1950s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
appears	O
to	O
be	O
the	O
first	O
such	O
system	O
ever	O
developed	O
,	O
predating	O
the	O
more	O
famous	O
SABRE	B-Application
system	O
in	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
by	O
about	O
two	O
years	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Major	O
portions	O
of	O
the	O
transistor-based	B-Device
circuit	I-Device
design	I-Device
were	O
put	O
to	O
good	O
use	O
in	O
the	O
Ferranti-Packard	B-Device
6000	I-Device
computer	O
,	O
which	O
would	O
later	O
go	O
on	O
to	O
see	O
major	O
sales	O
in	O
Europe	O
as	O
the	O
ICT	B-Device
1904	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1946	O
American	O
Airlines	O
decided	O
to	O
tackle	O
this	O
problem	O
through	O
automation	B-Application
,	O
introducing	O
the	O
Reservisor	B-Device
,	O
a	O
simple	O
electromechanical	O
computer	O
based	O
on	O
telephone	O
switching	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Newer	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
Reservisor	B-Device
included	O
magnetic	B-General_Concept
drum	I-General_Concept
systems	O
for	O
storing	O
flight	O
information	O
further	O
into	O
the	O
future	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ultimate	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
system	O
,	O
the	O
Magnetronic	B-Device
Reservisor	I-Device
,	O
was	O
installed	O
in	O
1956	O
and	O
could	O
store	O
data	O
for	O
2,000	O
flights	O
a	O
day	O
up	O
to	O
one	O
month	O
into	O
the	O
future	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Reservisors	B-Device
were	O
later	O
sold	O
to	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
airlines	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
Sheraton	O
for	O
hotel	O
bookings	O
,	O
and	O
Goodyear	O
for	O
inventory	O
control	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
TCA	O
was	O
aware	O
of	O
the	O
Reservisor	B-Device
,	O
but	O
was	O
unimpressed	O
by	O
its	O
limited	O
capabilities	O
in	O
terms	O
of	O
information	O
it	O
could	O
store	O
,	O
and	O
even	O
more	O
by	O
the	O
failure	O
rate	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
essentially	O
"	O
constant	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nor	O
did	O
the	O
Reservisor	B-Device
really	O
change	O
the	O
way	O
the	O
reservations	O
system	O
worked	O
;	O
ticket	O
agents	O
still	O
had	O
to	O
call	O
central	O
booking	O
and	O
talk	O
(	O
typically	O
through	O
an	O
intermediary	O
)	O
to	O
a	O
Reservisor	B-Device
operator	O
to	O
answer	O
queries	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
TCA	O
then	O
entered	O
into	O
an	O
agreement	O
to	O
build	O
a	O
prototype	O
system	O
on	O
the	O
University	O
of	O
Toronto	O
's	O
FERUT	O
computer	O
,	O
a	O
surplus	O
Manchester	B-Device
Mark	I-Device
1	I-Device
computer	O
they	O
had	O
received	O
in	O
1952	O
when	O
the	O
UK	O
's	O
nuclear	O
weapons	O
laboratories	O
had	O
to	O
abandon	O
it	O
after	O
budget	O
cuts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
FERUT-based	O
system	O
was	O
demonstrated	O
in	O
1953	O
and	O
was	O
a	O
qualified	O
success	O
;	O
while	O
the	O
programmed	O
logic	O
and	O
data	O
storage/retrieval	O
worked	O
well	O
,	O
input/output	O
was	O
a	O
serious	O
bottleneck	O
that	O
seemed	O
to	O
make	O
the	O
system	O
no	O
better	O
than	O
the	O
mechanical	O
Reservisor	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Furthermore	O
,	O
the	O
Ferut	O
was	O
vacuum	O
tube	O
based	O
,	O
and	O
thus	O
no	O
more	O
reliable	O
than	O
the	O
Reservisor	B-Device
,	O
TCA	O
's	O
major	O
concern	O
prior	O
to	O
the	O
experiment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Richardson	O
was	O
convinced	O
that	O
the	O
basic	O
concept	O
was	O
sound	O
,	O
and	O
formed	O
a	O
team	O
of	O
him	O
and	O
several	O
engineers	O
from	O
the	O
university	O
's	O
Computation	O
Center	O
,	O
operating	O
under	O
the	O
aegis	O
of	O
Adalia	O
Ltd.	O
,	O
a	O
consulting	O
firm	O
set	O
up	O
by	O
Robert	O
Watson-Watt	O
of	O
radar	B-Application
fame	O
when	O
he	O
moved	O
to	O
Montreal	O
at	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
World	O
War	O
II	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ferranti	O
proposed	O
a	O
"	O
transactor	O
"	O
(	O
terminal	O
)	O
that	O
used	O
a	O
custom	O
punched	B-Architecture
card	I-Architecture
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Such	O
a	O
system	O
had	O
first	O
been	O
proposed	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
improve	O
the	O
reliability	O
of	O
the	O
DATAR	B-Device
system	O
Ferranti	O
had	O
built	O
for	O
the	O
Canadian	O
Navy	O
,	O
and	O
they	O
were	O
convinced	O
of	O
its	O
practicality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
demonstration	O
was	O
a	O
complete	O
success	O
;	O
users	O
could	O
quickly	O
feed	O
in	O
requests	O
and	O
Ferut	O
was	O
able	O
to	O
book	O
,	O
change	O
,	O
query	O
and	O
cancel	O
flights	O
at	O
speeds	O
that	O
made	O
the	O
Reservisor	B-Device
look	O
terribly	O
slow	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
new	O
machine	O
was	O
based	O
on	O
a	O
25-bit	O
word	O
,	O
using	O
one	O
bit	O
for	O
parity	B-Error_Name
checking	I-Error_Name
and	O
24	O
bits	O
for	O
data	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
equipped	O
with	O
4,096	O
words	O
of	O
core	B-General_Concept
memory	I-General_Concept
,	O
later	O
expanded	O
to	O
8,192	O
words	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Storage	O
consisted	O
of	O
five	O
magnetic	B-General_Concept
drums	I-General_Concept
(	O
one	O
was	O
a	O
spare	O
)	O
with	O
32,768	O
25-bit	O
words	O
each	O
,	O
and	O
six	O
tape	O
units	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
internal	O
TCA	O
contest	O
in	O
late	O
1960	O
to	O
name	O
the	O
system	O
as	O
a	O
whole	O
resulted	O
in	O
ReserVec	B-Device
for	O
Reservations	O
Electronically	O
Controlled	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
August	O
1962	O
the	O
system	O
was	O
complete	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
switch-over	O
from	O
the	O
manual	O
systems	O
to	O
ReserVec	B-Device
was	O
completed	O
on	O
January	O
24	O
,	O
1963	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Use	O
of	O
ReserVec	B-Device
reduced	O
the	O
head	O
count	O
at	O
the	O
booking	O
office	O
from	O
230	O
to	O
90	O
,	O
and	O
allowed	O
for	O
the	O
sale	O
of	O
thousands	O
of	O
telephone	O
lines	O
formerly	O
needed	O
to	O
reach	O
the	O
human	O
operators	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
interesting	O
to	O
compare	O
the	O
system	O
with	O
SABRE	B-Application
,	O
being	O
deployed	O
at	O
about	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
by	O
American	O
Airlines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SABRE	B-Application
was	O
first	O
started	O
as	O
an	O
experimental	O
effort	O
in	O
1953	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
formal	O
development	O
contract	O
signed	O
in	O
1957	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
So	O
while	O
the	O
two	O
projects	O
started	O
at	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
,	O
ReserVec	B-Device
was	O
completed	O
almost	O
two	O
years	O
earlier	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
the	O
ReserVec	B-Device
cost	O
$4	O
million	O
,	O
SABRE	B-Application
was	O
ten	O
times	O
that	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Equally	O
interesting	O
is	O
that	O
while	O
the	O
SABRE	B-Application
CPU	O
was	O
about	O
ten	O
times	O
faster	O
,	O
ReserVec	B-Device
handled	O
80-100	O
,	O
000	O
transactions	O
a	O
day	O
with	O
a	O
maximum	O
two	O
second	O
delay	O
,	O
while	O
SABRE	B-Application
handled	O
only	O
26,000	O
with	O
delays	O
of	O
up	O
to	O
three	O
seconds	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
SABRE	B-Application
,	O
however	O
,	O
ReserVec	B-Device
did	O
not	O
store	O
passenger	O
information	O
,	O
which	O
had	O
to	O
be	O
processed	O
manually	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
order	O
to	O
address	O
this	O
need	O
,	O
TCA	O
added	O
a	O
second	O
system	O
known	O
as	O
Pioneer	O
,	O
which	O
could	O
link	O
ReserVec	B-Device
's	O
three	O
letter	O
passenger	O
codes	O
with	O
the	O
full	O
passenger	O
records	O
held	O
on	O
a	O
Burroughs	O
D-82	O
computer	O
(	O
originally	O
designed	O
for	O
US	O
military	O
use	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ReserVec	B-Device
ran	O
all	O
of	O
TCA	O
's	O
reservations	O
for	O
nine	O
years	O
,	O
with	O
an	O
average	O
downtime	O
of	O
only	O
120	O
seconds	O
a	O
year	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Retroactively	O
named	O
ReserVec	B-Device
I	O
,	O
the	O
system	O
was	O
finally	O
replaced	O
at	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
1970	O
by	O
a	O
new	O
Univac-based	O
system	O
known	O
as	O
ReserVec	B-Device
II	O
,	O
which	O
featured	O
small	O
computer	B-General_Concept
terminals	I-General_Concept
replacing	O
the	O
punched	B-Architecture
card	I-Architecture
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
engineering	O
team	O
convinced	O
Canadian	O
management	O
to	O
support	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
a	O
business	O
computer	O
aimed	O
at	O
the	O
low-end	O
of	O
the	O
mainframe	B-Architecture
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
expanded	O
the	O
ReserVec	B-Device
system	O
with	O
additional	O
hardware	O
to	O
directly	O
support	O
multitasking	B-Operating_System
and	O
various	O
changes	O
to	O
make	O
the	O
system	O
highly	O
modular	O
,	O
making	O
it	O
more	O
attractive	O
to	O
a	O
wider	O
variety	O
of	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sales	O
of	O
the	O
new	O
Ferranti-Packard	B-Device
6000	I-Device
were	O
just	O
starting	O
when	O
the	O
UK	O
headquarters	O
used	O
the	O
design	O
to	O
sweeten	O
the	O
deal	O
when	O
selling	O
off	O
their	O
UK	O
computer	O
divisions	O
,	O
handing	O
the	O
design	O
to	O
the	O
ICT	O
who	O
took	O
over	O
production	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
FP-6000	O
became	O
the	O
ICT	B-Device
1904	I-Device
,	O
one	O
of	O
a	O
line	O
of	O
similar	O
machines	O
which	O
sold	O
over	O
3,000	O
during	O
the	O
1960s	O
and	O
70s	O
.	O
</s>
