The DECmate II: How DEC turned the PDP-8 minicomputer into a desktop word processor
By
TMWNN
Sesame, salt, and substance. A flagship bake.
Summary
A detailed historical retrospective on Digital Equipment Corporation's DECmate II, a desktop microcomputer based on the PDP-8 minicomputer architecture that was repurposed as a word processor in the early 1980s. The article explores DEC's attempt to keep its PDP-series relevant by shrinking the architecture into desktop form factors, focusing on the DECmate line descended from the 1977 DECstation VT78, and contextualizes it alongside the similar but later DEC Professional (PDP-11 based) effort.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledIn 1982, Digital Equipment Corporation attempted to keep their PDP-11 minicomputer market-relevant by turning the venerable architecture into a largely incompatible desktop microcomputer.
But that wasn't the only PDP-series mini it happened to, and it wasn't even the first: the PDP-8 actually got the shrink-ray treatment several years before.
Not content to merely make it into a smaller general purpose computer, DEC turned it into a word processor.
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