technikum29 

Museum for the historical development of calculator, computer and communication technology

Rise and Fall of DIGITAL (Equipment Corporation)

It all began with an idea: A young engineer from the famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology had seen the novel computer Whirlwind, that worked in a way which was fundamentally different to the common Eniac computer generation at the Lincoln Laboratory.
While ENIAC computers used batch processing, the new computer implemented the idea of interactive computing.

At first sight he recognized the advantages of the new form of computer interaction and the possibilities that existed for even inexperienced computer users. The name of this man was Ken Olsen. His aim was to build an all-purpose interactive computer for all purposes.
In August 1957, he founded a small company with three collaborators. He named the new company Digital Equipment Corporation. This name was chosen to obscure his real intention. The big and well-established enterprises like IBM should think that DEC just builds auxillary devices.

Three years later, in 1960, Digital presented the first commercial, interactive, mini-omputer. This was the first PDP system (Programmable Data Processor). It used a word length of 18 bits, at a cost of approx. US$ 120,000. Only 53 units were sold.

The start of mass-produced mini computers represened the next milestone. In 1965, Digital presented this first mass produced PDP, the PDP-8. It was sensationally cheap and costed only US$ 18,000.
Successors of this hit series were the PDP 8I (1967, the first computer featuring TTL ICs), PDP 8L (1968, low cost version), PDP 8e (1970, the first computer with a bus system), later, the PDP 8a and DEC Mate Systems were produced.

An overview in chronological order

1963
In the German city of Munich the first European Digital branch office opened. The first minicomputer of the world, the 12-bit computer, PDP-5 was announced.
1966
The first Digital shares are sold.
1967
Digital has 50 branches in 11 countries worldwide. The number of employees increases up to 2,600.
1969
Bell Laboratories invents the first version of the famous operating system UNIX on a PDP-7 mini computer.
1970
Digital introduces the first 16 bit computer: PDP-11/20. This is the very first model from the mini computer series which gets the most successful computer of the world.
1971
DECsystem-10, the first time sharing system.
1972
The sales volume increases up to 188 million US$, the number of employees increases to 7,800.
1974
Digital invents the first microprocessor of the world, MPS. Digital sells the 30,000th computer system.
1975
PDP-11/70, a new model in the PDP-11 series. Digital develops DNA, the Digital Network Architecture.
1977
The sales volumes exceeds one billion US$. The number of employees increases up to 36,000. Digital presents VAX-11/780, the first computer from the VAX series.
1978
Digital delivers the 100,000th computer.