STARS:Rise and Fall of Minicomputers
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| − | {{STARSArticle|citation=During the 1960s a new class of low-cost computers evolved, which were given the name minicomputers. Their development was facilitated by rapidly improving performance and declining costs of integrated circuit technologies. Equally important were the entrepreneurial activities of many companies. By the mid-1980s, nearly one hundred companies had participated in the business of making and selling minicomputers. New ways of using and marketing minicomputers, combined with a growing number of individuals programming and using them, led to wide-ranging innovations that helped to stimulate decades of growth of the entire computer industry.|timeline=|essay=|bibliography=|resume=|complete=}}[[Category:Computers_and_information_processing]] | + | {{STARSArticle|citation=During the 1960s a new class of low-cost computers evolved, which were given the name minicomputers. Their development was facilitated by rapidly improving performance and declining costs of integrated circuit technologies. Equally important were the entrepreneurial activities of many companies. By the mid-1980s, nearly one hundred companies had participated in the business of making and selling minicomputers. New ways of using and marketing minicomputers, combined with a growing number of individuals programming and using them, led to wide-ranging innovations that helped to stimulate decades of growth of the entire computer industry.|timeline={{STARSTimeline|year1=1956|event1=Bendix Aviation G-15 and Librascope LGP-30 desk-size computers are marketed|year2=1960|event2=Bendix Aviation G-15 and Librascope LGP-30 desk-size computers are marketed|year3=1961|event3=MIT develops Compatible Time Sharing System for an IBM 7094 and a DEC PDP-1|year4=1962|event4=MIT Lincoln Laboratory introduces LINC as interactive personal computer |year5=1964|event5=Computer Controls Corporation introduces DDP-116 as first 16-bit minicomputer |year6=1964|event6=IBM announces System/360, establishing 8-bit byte as mainframe standard|year7=1965|event7=IBM introduces 16-bit 1130, the first computer leased for under $1,000 per month|year8=1965|event8=Gordon Moore predicts increasing semiconductor chip densities, later known as Moore's Law|year9=1965|event9=DEC begins selling 12-bit PDP-8, which will establish minicomputer category|year10=1967|event10=First use of “minicomputer,” following miniskirts and Austin Mini automobile |year11=1969|event11=Data General’s NOVA lowers 16-bit processor cost with single printed-circuit board|year12=1969|event12=Bell Telephone Laboratories first runs UNIX operating system on a DEC PDP-7|year13=1970|event13=DEC announces PDP-11/20; last models are introduced in 1990|year14=1974|event14=Interdata sells its 7/32 as first 32-bit minicomputer for high performance applications|year15=1979|event15=Motorola announces 32-bit 68000 microprocessor for UNIX operating system |year16=1981|event16=IBM introduces its first Personal Computer using Intel X86 and Microsoft MS/DOS|year17=1984|event17=92 U.S. minicomputer companies in business; only seven remain independent in 1994|year18=1985|event18=DEC withdraws PDP-8 from the market|year19=1985|event19=Shared-memory multiple microprocessors are introduced by many companies|year20=1995|event20=Beowulf-Linux cluster operating system released for PCs and networks}}|essay=|bibliography=|resume=|complete=}}[[Category:Computers_and_information_processing]] |
Revision as of 20:17, 18 January 2013
Author: Alex Magoun
Citation
During the 1960s a new class of low-cost computers evolved, which were given the name minicomputers. Their development was facilitated by rapidly improving performance and declining costs of integrated circuit technologies. Equally important were the entrepreneurial activities of many companies. By the mid-1980s, nearly one hundred companies had participated in the business of making and selling minicomputers. New ways of using and marketing minicomputers, combined with a growing number of individuals programming and using them, led to wide-ranging innovations that helped to stimulate decades of growth of the entire computer industry.
Timeline
| 1956 | Bendix Aviation G-15 and Librascope LGP-30 desk-size computers are marketed |
| 1960 | Bendix Aviation G-15 and Librascope LGP-30 desk-size computers are marketed |
| 1961 | MIT develops Compatible Time Sharing System for an IBM 7094 and a DEC PDP-1 |
| 1962 | MIT Lincoln Laboratory introduces LINC as interactive personal computer |
| 1964 | Computer Controls Corporation introduces DDP-116 as first 16-bit minicomputer |
| 1964 | IBM announces System/360, establishing 8-bit byte as mainframe standard |
| 1965 | IBM introduces 16-bit 1130, the first computer leased for under $1,000 per month |
| 1965 | Gordon Moore predicts increasing semiconductor chip densities, later known as Moore's Law |
| 1965 | DEC begins selling 12-bit PDP-8, which will establish minicomputer category |
| 1967 | First use of “minicomputer,” following miniskirts and Austin Mini automobile |
| 1969 | Data General’s NOVA lowers 16-bit processor cost with single printed-circuit board |
| 1969 | Bell Telephone Laboratories first runs UNIX operating system on a DEC PDP-7 |
| 1970 | DEC announces PDP-11/20; last models are introduced in 1990 |
| 1974 | Interdata sells its 7/32 as first 32-bit minicomputer for high performance applications |
| 1979 | Motorola announces 32-bit 68000 microprocessor for UNIX operating system |
| 1981 | IBM introduces its first Personal Computer using Intel X86 and Microsoft MS/DOS |
| 1984 | 92 U.S. minicomputer companies in business; only seven remain independent in 1994 |
| 1985 | DEC withdraws PDP-8 from the market |
| 1985 | Shared-memory multiple microprocessors are introduced by many companies |
| 1995 | Beowulf-Linux cluster operating system released for PCs and networks |
Essay
Bibliography
References of Historical Significance
References for Further Reading
