The IBM 704, the first mass-produced computer with floating point arithmetic hardware, was introduced by IBM in April, 1956. The 704 was an improved version of the IBM 701.
Changes from the 701 included the use of magnetic core memory and addition of three index registers. To support these new features, the instructions were expanded to use the full 36 bit word. The new instruction set became the base for the later members of the IBM 700/7000 series.
To quote the IBM 704 Manual of operation (see external link below):
- The type 704 Electronic Data-Processing Machine is a large-scale,
- high-speed electronic calculator controlled by an internally stored
- program of the single address type.
123 IBM 704 systems were sold from 1955 to 1960.