Before the B5000: Burroughs computers, 1951-1963

Like many companies entering the computer industry, Burroughs began by working on US government contracts. Once sufficient expertise had been gained, the company entered the general-purpose computer market. The Datatron computer, obtained through the ElectroData Corporation acquisition, was a modest success in the late 1950s; however, pioneering work on transistor computers for military contracts was not immediately transferred to the commercial marketplace.