Programmed Data Processor (abbreviated PDP) was the name of a series of minicomputers made by Digital Equipment Corporation. The name 'PDP' intentionally avoided the use of the term 'computer' because at the time of the first PDPs, computers had a reputation of being large, complicated, and expensive machines, and the venture capitalists behind Digital (esp. Georges Doriot) wouldn't support Digital's attempting to build a "computer". The word "mi...
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Programmed Data Processor (abbreviated PDP) was the name of a series of minicomputers made by Digital Equipment Corporation. The name 'PDP' intentionally avoided the use of the term 'computer' because at the time of the first PDPs, computers had a reputation of being large, complicated, and expensive machines, and the venture capitalists behind Digital (esp. Georges Doriot) wouldn't support Digital's attempting to build a "computer". The word "minicomputer" was not invented yet. So instead, Digital used their existing line of logic modules to build a Programmable Data Processor and aimed it at a market which couldn't afford the larger computers.
The various PDP machines can generally be grouped into families based on word length.
Members of the PDP series include:
Various sites list documents by Charles Lasner, the creator of the alt.sys.pdp8 discussion group, and related documents by various members of the alt.sys.pdp8 readership with even more authoritative information about the...
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