By Helen A.S. Popkin

The commotion kicked up by the new super computer at "Mad Men" advertising agency SC&P is nothing compared to the havoc it wreaked at IBM after it was announced on April 7, 1964 -- 50 years before its AMC debut.

The IBM System 360 led the computer revolution. "Mad Men" designers spent two days at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif., sketching the real thing to get it exactly right. What's the big deal? Museum curator Dag Spicer gave us the the true story about "Mad Men's" newest featured player.

The SLT (Solid Logic Technology) module, the basic building block of the 360s electronic circuits and IBMs homegrown technology.

The IBM 360 really did change everything

Clever TV critics point to the "2001: Space Odyssey" allusions hidden throughout the "Mad Men" episode featuring the IBM 360 debut -- plunked right in the middle of SC&P's "creative lounge." But unlike the monolith which confronts apes in Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece, the room-sized computer is more than just a metaphor for epochal change. As Don Draper says to Harry Crane, In fact its quite literal.

Spicer confirms, "It was a massive disruption for IBM and computing, and the biggest development project the company has ever taken on, before or since."

The IBM 360 is the first computer able to upgrade

Marketed to serve every degree of industry, "the IBM 360 was a response to an internal crisis," Spicer says.

Prior to the 360's development, IBM had six or seven mainframe computer lines able to process large amounts of data for either business or science -- just not both. To add to the cost and confusion, each line required its own sales and support team. If a customer wanted to upgrade to a bigger mainframe, the software on the old computer had to be completely rewritten. "It was very confusing for salesmen and too expensive to support," Spicer says.

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5 Reasons to Love 'Mad Men's' Newest Star: The IBM 360