The IBM 701 was IBM's first commercial scientific computer, introduced in 1952. It was designed to perform complex calculations and was primarily used by research institutions and large corporations. The 701 featured a vacuum tube-based architecture and could execute about 16,000 instructions per second, which was impressive for its time. The IBM 701 utilized magnetic tape for data storage and had a memory capacity of 2048 words. It played a significant role in advancing computer technology and laid the groundwork for future IBM systems, influencing the development of subsequent models like the IBM 704 and the IBM 709.