
conditions were in the early years. Workspaces had walls but no doors (bathroom stalls did not have doors, either).
The early successes of DEC rested on two concepts – real time
computing and time sharing. The first described the ability to sit in front of
a computer, create program code on a keyboard, and see code and output on a
video screen. The second referred to the idea that more than one user could be
using the same computer at the same time, with speed fast enough that each user
had the sense that they were a sole operator.
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Digital Equipment Corporation: PDP-1. "PDP" was from Programmed Data Processor, as Digital was adverse to calling itself a computer company. |
The PDP-1 was DEC’s first computer, introduced in December 1959. First delivery to a customer was November 1960. It
introduced the concept of real-time computing. It weighed about 1,600 pounds,
sold for $30,000 (roughly $1,000,000 in inflation-adjusted dollars, and was
considered a huge bargain compared to mainframe computers. DEC sold 53 of them.
One was on permanent loan to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Electrical
Engineering Department, Ken Olsen’s alma mater, where faculty and students
could sign up for computer time, 24/7. DEC recruited students who showed programming
promise.
The PDP-8, introduced in 1965, became DEC’s first superstar
computer, selling more than 50,000 over its lifespan. The innovative idea –
radical at the time – was to make a smaller, cost-effective computer rather than
going for “bigger equals better.” There had been missteps prior. PDP models 4-7
were sluggish sellers, and the PDP-6 in particular had devoured huge amounts of
the company’s research and development budget. The PDP-8 supported time-sharing,
meaning that many people could be using terminals at the same time, but have
the response time they expected from being the only user of a real-time
computer. The introductory price was $18,500.
The original PDP-8 spawned a large family of models that
were progressively smaller and faster and less expensive. One anecdote of the
time was that Bob Metcalf, a graduate student at MIT, had received permission
to have a PDP-8 on loan in his office for a weekend demonstration for visiting
high school students. When he got to his office that Saturday, the computer was
gone. DEC’s public relations department turned the crime into an advertising
coup, describing the PDP-8 as “The first computer small enough to steal.”
Metcalf went on to co-invent the Ethernet, parent concept for the Internet. The
PDP-8 system was later incorporated into one of DEC’s entries into the personal
computer niche – the DECmate II/III.
Financially, a major milestone was achieved when the company
issued stock on August 18, 1966 as an initial public offering (IPO) of 375,000
shares at $22/share, raising a bit over $8 million dollars for about 20 percent
of the company (the majority of shares retained by the investor). Given that
the company had been initially funded by $70,000 from American Research &
Development, one of the first venture capital companies in the U.S., for 70%
ownership, this achievement was insanely profitable for AR&D. Harlan
Anderson, one of the co-founders, later wrote: “This deal seems ridiculous and
unfair by today’s standards; however, we never contacted an alternative source
of capital. We were very naïve and there was very little venture capital money
available then. We accepted the offer without any negotiation.” When AR&D was purchased in 1972 the price was $450 million; the major asset in its portfolio was Digital Equipment Corporation.
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Image of $1,000 bond issued in December 1978. The computer in the central image appears to be a PDP-12. Click on image to enlarge. |
Prior to the Soviet Union invading Afghanistan in 1979, and
a subsequent boycott on importing U.S. computers, PDP-8s and PDP-11s legally
made their way behind the Iron Curtain. There, they were reverse-engineered to
create knock-offs. Some were so compatible that they could run DEC software,
and DEC sales force in eastern Europe reported seeing Russian language PDP
manuals. Most of the early personal computers in the USSR were PDP-11 compatible. Years later, VAX machines were smuggled into the USSR and cloned as ‘WAX’
superminicomputers, also able to run DEC software.
There is a confirmed story that the scribe lane of the Digital CVAX microprocessor had text in the Cyrillic (Russian) alphabet, with one suggested translation as: "VAX - when you care enough to steal the very best". This was actually a rift on the famous Hallmark card slogan: "When you care enough to send the best".
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