Digital Equipment Corporation

Digital Equipment Corporation History

Period: Jan 1, 1957 to Feb 28, 2016

Founding Date

Feb 28, 1957

Dec FoundingDec was founded in 1957 by Ken Olsen and Harlan Anderson
Citation: Harvard. “Digital equipment corporation - Lehman brothers collection.” Harvard Business School Baker library. 2012. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.

Cathode ray tube graphic display

Jan 1, 1960

CathodeIn 1960 when the PDP-1 was released Dec also managed to develop something important a cathode ray tube graphic display. This brought displays to computers allowing people to interact with them.
Citation: Computer History Museum. “VDM prototype built.” Computer History Museum. 1981. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.

PDP-1

Nov 28, 1960

In the fall of 1960 DEC would release their first mini-computer the PDP-1.
PDP-1
Citation: Plutte, Jon. “Computer history museum.” Computer history museum. 2011. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.

Digital Equipment Users Socitey

Jan 1, 1961

This was a society where people joined to talk about computers and further develop them along with the manufactures of them.
Decus
Citation: Computer History Museum. “DECUS | PDP-1 restoration project | computer history museum.” Computer History Museum. 2016. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.

PDP-4

Dec 31, 1962

In 1962 the PDP-4 was released this computer was similar to the PDP-1 it had a 18-bit processor. This computer was the second computer, it improved computation rates.
PDP-4 Specs
Citation: http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/DEC/pdp-4/DEC.PDP4.1963.102646216.pdf
Citation: Jones, Douglas W. “Doug Jones’s DEC PDP-8 FAQs.” The university of Iowa. 07 Dec. 2001. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.

PDP-5

Aug 11, 1963

Was Digital Equipment corporations first 12-bit computer. This computer was able to decrease the price of computers and aimed towards DEC's goal of supplying inexpensive computers.
PDP-5
Citation: Jones, Douglas W. “Doug Jones’s DEC PDP-8 models and options.” The University of Iowa. 7 May 1985. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.

PDP-8

Mar 22, 1965

This was the first computer to start using flip chips and also it became well known because the computer used a single wall output to power it,
PDP-8
Citation: Jones, Douglas W. “Doug Jones’s DEC PDP-8 models and options.” The University of Iowa. 7 May 1985. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.

PDP-7

Dec 31, 1965

The PDP-7 was the predeccessor of the PDP-4 and is most commonly acknoledged for being the computer where the first version of UNIX was created.
PDP-7
Citation: Linfo. “The PDP-7 was used by Thompson for first version of UNIX.” Linfo. 27 Sept. 2007. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.

PDP-11

Feb 28, 1970

This was a 16-bit computer it was the last line of computers that DEC created, The computer used a Unibus system that allowed for the CPU and Periphals to be on the same screen.
PDP-11
Citation: The University of Sydney. “Introduction to the PDP-11.” The University of Sydney. n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.

PDP-8/E

Dec 31, 1970

This computer started using a system Omnibus which basically put most of the chips on one board. This had two effects it lowered the cost of making the computer and also improved its performance.
PDP-8/E
Citation: Jones, Douglas W. “Doug Jones’s DEC PDP-8 models and options.” The University of Iowa. 7 May 1985. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.

PDP-8/A

May 28, 1974

Was the last in the PDP-8 family and this final unit offered. They were able to fit the CPU and memory on the same board. Some other improvements were the 4k core memory board that eventually allowed for static RAM cards to be introduced.
PDP-8/A
Citation: Jones, Douglas W. “Doug Jones’s DEC PDP-8 models and options.” The University of Iowa. 7 May 1985. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.

DECwritterII

Dec 31, 1974

This was a printer developed by DEC that could print up to 30 characters per a second.
DecWritterII
Citation: Colombia University. “The DEC LA36 DECwriter II terminal.” Colombia University. Jan. 2001. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.

DECnet

Apr 1, 1975

This introduced it so that two computers could communicate with one another, Allowinf for business in 1975 to exchange information.
DECnet
Citation: Compaq. “DECnet-Plus for OpenVMS.” Compaq. Nov. 1996. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.

PDP-11T55

Dec 31, 1976

This computer offered a fast fortran and also fast digital signal proccessing. lastly doing this at a cheaper price than IBM.
PDP-11T55
Citation: S. MIDDELHOEK. “IEEE Xplore full-text PDF:” IEEE Xplore. Jan. 1977. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.

Vax Series

Dec 31, 1976

In 1976 DEC would create their last computers the PDP-11 this was later improved to become the vax series which made the PDP-11's word legnth 32-bits.
Vax series
Citation: Computer History Museum. “Computer history museum - digital equipment corporation (DEC) - the new PDP-12.” Computer History Museum. 1963. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.

DEC Sold

Dec 31, 1998

In 1998 DEC had its firm bought out by Compaq, which inturn in 2002 was bought by Hewlett-Packard. Ending the era of their computers.
Company sold
Citation: Computer History Museum. “Computer history museum - digital equipment corporation (DEC) - the new PDP-12.” Computer History Museum. 1963. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.