The LINC (Laboratory Instrument Computer) was a 12-bit, 2048-word computer. The LINC can be considered the first minicomputer and a forerunner to the personal computer.
The LINC and other "MIT Group" machines were designed at MIT and eventually built by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). The LINC sold for more than $40,000 at the time. A typical configuration included an enclosed 6'X20" rack, four boxes holding tape drives, a small display, a c...
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The LINC (Laboratory Instrument Computer) was a 12-bit, 2048-word computer. The LINC can be considered the first minicomputer and a forerunner to the personal computer.
The LINC and other "MIT Group" machines were designed at MIT and eventually built by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). The LINC sold for more than $40,000 at the time. A typical configuration included an enclosed 6'X20" rack, four boxes holding tape drives, a small display, a control panel, and a keyboard.
Although its instruction set was small, it was larger than the ingenious and tiny PDP-8 instruction set.
It interfaced well with laboratory experiments. Analog inputs and outputs were part of the basic design. It was designed in 1962 by Charles Molnar and Wesley Clark at Lincoln Laboratory, Massachusetts ), for NIH researchers. The LINC's design was literally in the public domain, perhaps making it unique in the history of computers. The number of LINCs and who built them is a minor subject of debate in the 12-bit...
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