advertising information

CNN.com
 MAIN PAGE
 WORLD
 ASIANOW
 U.S.
 LOCAL
 POLITICS
 WEATHER
 BUSINESS
 SPORTS
 TECHNOLOGY
   computing
   personal technology
   space
 NATURE
 ENTERTAINMENT
 BOOKS
 TRAVEL
 FOOD
 HEALTH
 STYLE
 IN-DEPTH

 custom news
 Headline News brief
 daily almanac
 CNN networks
 CNN programs
 on-air transcripts
 news quiz

  CNN WEB SITES:
CNN Websites
 TIME INC. SITES:
 MORE SERVICES:
 video on demand
 video archive
 audio on demand
 news email services
 free email accounts
 desktop headlines
 pointcast
 pagenet

 DISCUSSION:
 message boards
 chat
 feedback

 SITE GUIDES:
 help
 contents
 search

 FASTER ACCESS:
 europe
 japan

 WEB SERVICES:
The history of computing

1957: Digital Equipment scales computers down in size, price

May 12, 1999
Web posted at: 4:11 p.m. EDT (2011 GMT)

by Mary Brandel
Computerworld Flashback
1957

 ALSO
   Flashback: The history of computing index

   Sign up for the Computer Connection email service

   For more computing stories

MORE FROM COMPUTERWORLD.COM
  Computerworld's home page
  Flashback timeline
 Computerworld Year 2000 resource center
 Computerworld's online subscription center

THIS YEAR IN
COMPUTER HISTORY
Technology Happenings
IBM introduces the first dot- matrix printer.
Allen Newell, Clifford Shaw and Herbert Simon create General Problem Solver, the first program to solve problems that it isn't specifically designed to solve using means-end analysis.
Control Data Corp. is founded.
John McCarthy and Marvin Minsky set up the first artificial intelligence labs at MIT.
Noam Chomsky publishes "Synactic Structures," which considers for the first time the computation required for natural-language processing and establishes him as the "Father of Modern Linguistics."
A Forbes magazine article states there are 1,200 computers in use in the world. More than 200 of them cost $1 million or more; more than 800 cost between $100,000 and $500,000.
IBM reaches $1 billion in revenue.
IBM introduces the 305 RAMAC (Random-Access Memory Automatic Computer), the first computer disk storage system.

Born in 1957
Paul Gillin, Computerworld's Editor in Chief
Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert
Chris Carter, creator of "The X Files"

Other notables
Best Picture: The Bridge on the River Kwai
A head of lettuce costs 15 cents.
One pound of ground beef costs 31 cents.
Gunsmoke is the top-rated show; it's watched by 43% of Americans who own a television set.

  

(IDG) -- So much lore surrounds Digital Equipment Corp. There's the old mill in Maynard, Mass. The tradition of brilliant engineering that led to the first minicomputer (PDP-8), the first 32-bit computer (VAX) and a superfast semiconductor (Alpha). The development of time-sharing and Ethernet-based networking. The downward spiral of the 1990s. The $9.6 billion purchase by Compaq Computer Corp. And of course, founder Kenneth H. Olsen, who left the company in 1992 after 35 years at the helm.

Olsen has since started another computer company, Advanced Modular Solutions Inc. in Boxboro, Mass. Computerworld spoke with him recently about Digital's early days.

It all began in 1957, when Olsen left MIT to form Digital with his brother Stan and fellow MIT engineer Harlan Anderson. Olsen was inspired by the Whirlwind computer, the first digital computer at MIT, and the TX-0, the first transistor-based computer.

Both were very fast for their time and were interactive -- that is, people could work directly with them through a keyboard or light pen and could read the results of their queries on a CRT monitor.

Olsen and Anderson approached a venture capital firm, American Research & Development Corp. (ARD), and were granted $70,000 in funding. But the idea of building an actual "computer" wasn't in the original proposal.

Olsen: "ARD gave us some advice. They said, 'Promise fast results -- because most of the board is over 80 years old.' And they said, 'Don't use the word "computers" because Fortune magazine said no one is making money in computers.'"

Instead, the business plan proposed two types of printed-circuit modules, digital laboratory modules and digital systems modules to be used by engineers and scientists to test devices they were building or by commercial companies to build systems for their customers.

Olsen: "There were about 30 people making modules and all of them were losing money. We were told we'd be foolish [to enter the business]. But ours were high-speed and thus unique."

Within a year's time, Digital had made $94,000 and turned a small profit. ARD agreed that Digital could incorporate these modules into its first computer, the PDP-1. It hit the market in 1960 with its own keyboard and CRT. Because it used transistors instead of vacuum tubes, it was faster and smaller than other computers. But even the PDP-1 didn't have the word "computer" in its name.

Olsen: "We called it the Programmed Data Processor so we didn't have to go through government constraints [that listed attributes a machine must have to be sold as a computer]."

People had trouble swallowing the idea of a modestly priced computer. The PDP-1 sold for $125,000 to $150,000.

In 1962, Digital got its big break: International Telephone and Telegraph placed a huge order for 15 PDP-1s. By the end of 1962, Digital reported sales of $6.5 million and net profits of $807,000.

Despite its decline in the '90s and eventual sale to Compaq, Digital's impact can't be forgotten. It is largely responsible for bringing computing power to labs, universities and small businesses that wouldn't have been able to afford IBM's gargantuan mainframes.

Brandel is a frequent contributor to Computerworld. Her e-mail address is brandel@cwix.com.



RELATED STORIES:
Why buy a generic PC?
May 10, 1999
Celeron-466 boosts graphics on a budget
April 27, 1999
Top 20 budget desktop PCs
April 9, 1999

RELATED IDG.net STORIES:
100 years of technology innovation
Computerworld
Interview with Jay Forrester, inventor of the Whirlwind computer
(Computerworld)
First 50 years of computing complete timeline
(Computerworld)
Flashback: Women in computing
(Computerworld)
Forecast: The next 10 years
(Computerworld)

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.


RELATED SITES:
Computer Museum of America
Perspectives of the Smithsonian: Smithsonian Computer History
American Computer Museum
The Computer Museum

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.

 LATEST HEADLINES:
SEARCH CNN.com
Enter keyword(s)   go    help

Back to the top   © 2001 Cable News Network. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.