3 ms·
> "So in the 70s you could pay per request billed to millisecond precision?" It's been a while since I encountered it but yes, mainframe time was so blistering
by GrumpyYoungMan 6y ago
> "So in the 70s you could pay per request billed to millisecond precision?"
It's been a while since I encountered it but yes, mainframe time was so blisteringly expensive that usage was accounted for on a per-job basis and billed to individual user accounts. I don't recall the resolution or pricing anymore but students would be issued an hour or so (?) of processing time to complete their coursework per semester. Perhaps somebody with better recall than I can fill in the details.
- opless 6y agoIndeed. Unix even has it. https://www.rigacci.org/docs/biblio/online/sysadmin/ch21.htm https://www.rigacci.org/docs/biblio/online/sysadmin/ch21.htm
- mark-r 6y agoI know on the Control Data Cybers the time was measured by the second with 3 digits after the decimal. Might have been measured with even finer granularity, but that's what they displayed.
- markus_zhang 6y agoI remember seeing somewhere a Linux or Unix program or system that shows how much money it costs for running the program. I think it was from an online course but really couldn't remember where, but the cost is very expensive...