Wang Laboratories was a computer company founded in Boston, USA, in 1951, by Dr. An Wang, a Chinese immigrant. The company went through several distinct transitions between different product lines, beginning with typesetters, calculators and word processors, then adding computers, copiers, and laser printers. Wang introduced the first programmable desktop calculator in 1966, the 300 series.

In December 1968, Wang Labs announced the new 700-series calculator, a competitor for HP’s 9100 calculators. However it was only in the development stage at that point, and it wasn't until early 1970 that the company were able to fulfil orders. The 700 series featured a sealed Microswitch keyboard, a dual-register Nixie-type display, an arithmetic unit, an 8192-bit core assembly, a 40Kb read-only memory, and a cassette tape deck for recording programs.

This example in our collection was sold as the 700B model but has been upgraded to a 720C model with the ROM and hardware upgraded in the 1970s.

Manufacturer: Wang Laboratories
Date: 1972

This exhibit has a reference ID of CH63682. Please quote this reference ID in any communication with the Centre for Computing History.

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