The Reservisor automated airline reservation system: combining communications and computing

Shortly after the beginnings of the computer in the mid-1940s, a machine appeared that was the first in a long line of important commercial systems integrating communications and processing: the Reservisor airline reservation system built by the Teleregister Corporation. A few parts of the original have been preserved at the Smithsonian Institution, and there are enough records to understand both the basic issues in the airline industry that led to the development of this remarkable device and how the machine helped solve some of the problems of rapidly evolving air-transport technology. This article also discusses the place of the Reservisor in the larger view of the development of information technology.<>