> IBM had resources to design and market yet for some reason it couldn't.
In many ways, the 6600 would be unthinkable to IBM - it was a very limited machine, with 60-bit words and no character addressability, just ludicrously fast (and cool looking). The central processor was augmented by 12 peripheral processors that offloaded IO and other tasks from the CPU (not sure IBM did that, but this - channel processors and channel programs - is a pattern that was common on IBM mainframes at least after the 360).
It's very normal to slow down new model releases so they don't cannibalize too much of the sales of previous established lines. CDC was a very lean company, while IBM had a lot of different lines to protect from their own disruption.
It's always an important thing to remember it's better to develop the product that will kill your cash cow, because someone will, and you don't want it to be your competition.
In many ways, the 6600 would be unthinkable to IBM - it was a very limited machine, with 60-bit words and no character addressability, just ludicrously fast (and cool looking). The central processor was augmented by 12 peripheral processors that offloaded IO and other tasks from the CPU (not sure IBM did that, but this - channel processors and channel programs - is a pattern that was common on IBM mainframes at least after the 360).
It's very normal to slow down new model releases so they don't cannibalize too much of the sales of previous established lines. CDC was a very lean company, while IBM had a lot of different lines to protect from their own disruption.
It's always an important thing to remember it's better to develop the product that will kill your cash cow, because someone will, and you don't want it to be your competition.