Page "Mainframe computer" Paragraph 9

As recently as the early 1960s, most mainframes had no explicitly interactive interface.

They accepted sets of punched cards, paper tape, or magnetic tape to transfer data and programs.

They operated in batch mode to support back office functions, such as customer billing, and supported interactive terminals almost exclusively for applications rather than program development.

Typewriter and Teletype devices were also common control consoles for system operators through the 1970s, although ultimately supplanted by keyboard / display devices.

By the early 1970s, many mainframes acquired interactive user interfaces and operated as timesharing computers, supporting hundreds of users simultaneously along with batch processing.

Users gained access through specialized terminals or, later, from personal computers equipped with terminal emulation software.

By the 1980s, many mainframes supported graphical terminals, and terminal emulation, but not graphical user interfaces.

This format of end-user computing reached mainstream obsolescence in the 1990s due to the advent of personal computers provided with GUIs.

After 2000, most modern mainframes have partially or entirely phased out classic terminal access for end-users in favour of Web-style user interfaces.