[Mick]

Also read that some of the IRS computers in use in the late 1990s were so old that the IRS was still using some computers from the 1950s with vacuum tubes.


https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes....97irs.html

Not what the article said. It said they were using computers DESIGNED in the late 1950s. That turns out to be a of immense proportions difference, as the reliability of vacuum tube computers was horrible. At least the IRS got 360/XX computers whose design was indeed started in the late 50s. The first systems were shipped in about 1964. Problem was, they kept these old reliables into the 1990s. Some of them still used only magnetic tape, no disk storage at all. IBM had long since washed it's hands of these systems, so the government had to jump through lots of hoops to keep them going.

It is almost impossible for the government to do any IT upgrades. It has to be competed, so everybody gets to play. By the time a specification is agreed upon, it is already obsolete. The low bidder usually can't do the job, but there are so many loopholes and errors in the specification the contractor can't be held accountable. Rinse and repeat.

Right.  I read the line "Charles Rossotti, the new commissioner, told FORTUNE that upgrading his vacuum tube-era technology 'will be like rebuilding Manhattan while we're still living in it.'" to mean that the IRS still used computers with vacuum tubes.

https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/.../index.htm

[Mick]

Also read that some of the IRS computers in use in the late 1990s were so old that the IRS was still using some computers from the 1950s with vacuum tubes.


https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes....97irs.html

Not what the article said. It said they were using computers DESIGNED in the late 1950s. That turns out to be a of immense proportions difference, as the reliability of vacuum tube computers was horrible. At least the IRS got 360/XX computers whose design was indeed started in the late 50s. The first systems were shipped in about 1964. Problem was, they kept these old reliables into the 1990s. Some of them still used only magnetic tape, no disk storage at all. IBM had long since washed it's hands of these systems, so the government had to jump through lots of hoops to keep them going.

It is almost impossible for the government to do any IT upgrades. It has to be competed, so everybody gets to play. By the time a specification is agreed upon, it is already obsolete. The low bidder usually can't do the job, but there are so many loopholes and errors in the specification the contractor can't be held accountable. Rinse and repeat.

Right.  I read the line "Charles Rossotti, the new commissioner, told FORTUNE that upgrading his vacuum tube-era technology 'will be like rebuilding Manhattan while we're still living in it.'" to mean that the IRS still used computers with vacuum tubes.

https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/.../index.htm