Control Data 1957
Control Data was one of the ‘seven dwarfs’ that sprung up after WWII to exploit the new computing technologies. Founded in 1957 by William Norris, Seymour Cray and eleven other members of UNIVAC, they were initially sued by their former employer over illegal use of trade secrets and inventions. Eventually they won, and started manufacturing components for other computer companies.

Cray developed a modular circuit configuration that could be used in high speed computers, and this configuration was used in the CDC1604. Control Data manufactured large high-powered machines for the US Navy and dominated this area until IBM started to make inroads into their market. Cray responded with the CDC6600, the world’s first ‘supercomputer’. IBM responded by announcing their own supercomputer, and sales of the machine stalled. But the IBM machine never materialised, and Control Data responded by filing an anti-trust suit against IBM. At the same time they released their next supercomputer, the 7600. Five years later, they won their lawsuit against IBM.