Software Pioneering
The key development that led to the tremendous success of the HP 3000 was the bundling of the HP-developed network database management system (DBMS) called IMAGE (now called TurboIMAGE/SQL) that was reputedly inspired by the TOTAL DBMS developed by Cincom Systems, Inc. IMAGE was an award-winning database anointed by Datamation within two years of the database's introduction. It was the first database management system included with a business-class minicomputer. By bundling IMAGE with the server, HP created an ecosystem of applications and development utilities that could rely upon IMAGE as a data repository in any HP 3000.
Almost uniquely in computer history, the revision and improvements to MPE have enabled forward binary compatibility of executable programs. Applications written by both owners as well as third-party vendors could be preserved across all systems and all versions of the operating system, regardless of hardware architecture. Programs that ran on the original Series II in 1973 can be reloaded from tape onto the last N-Series machines produced in 2003 and run today without recompiling.
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Famous quotes containing the word pioneering:
“You know what I’m talking about. This business has changed. Flyers aren’t pilots anymore, they’re engineers. This is a college man’s game. Our work is done. The pioneering is over.”
—Frank W. Wead (1895?–1947)