Digital Equipment Corporation: Difference between revisions
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They reached the peak of their success in the 1980s, with their [[VAX]] line. However, they were unable to successfully adapt to the rise of personal computers, which turned computers into commodities, and were bought by [[Compaq]] in 1998. | They reached the peak of their success in the 1980s, with their [[VAX]] line. However, they were unable to successfully adapt to the rise of personal computers, which turned computers into commodities, and were bought by [[Compaq]] in 1998. | ||
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==See also== | ==See also== | ||
* [[List of Programmed Data Processors]] | * [[List of Programmed Data Processors]] | ||
* [[DEC manuals]] | |||
* [[DEC part number]]s | * [[DEC part number]]s | ||
* [[DEC drawing | * [[DEC engineering drawing numbers]] | ||
* [[:Category:DEC Hardware]] | * [[DEC acronyms]] | ||
* [[:Category:DEC Boards]] | * [[DEC Semiconductor Chips]] | ||
* [[:Category:DEC Architectures]] | * [[DEC Packaged System Nomenclature]] | ||
* [[:Category:DEC Buses]] | * [[Edited Option/Module List]] | ||
* [[:Category:DEC Systems]] | * [[DEC Software-related Order Codes]] | ||
* [[:Category:DEC Processors]] | * [[:Category:DEC Documentation Errors|DEC Documentation Errors]] | ||
* [[:Category:DEC Memories]] | * [[:Category:DEC Hardware|DEC Hardware]] | ||
* [[:Category:DEC Peripherals]] | * [[:Category:DEC Boards|DEC Boards]] | ||
** [[:Category:DEC Storage Controllers]] | * [[:Category:DEC Architectures|DEC Architectures]] | ||
** [[:Category:DEC Disk Drives]] | * [[:Category:DEC Buses|DEC Buses]] | ||
* [[:Category:DEC Terminals]] | * [[:Category:DEC Systems|DEC Systems]] | ||
* [[:Category:DEC Software]] | * [[:Category:DEC Processors|DEC Processors]] | ||
** [[:Category:DEC Operating Systems]] | * [[:Category:DEC Memories|DEC Memories]] | ||
* [[:Category:DEC Peripherals|DEC Peripherals]] | |||
** [[:Category:DEC Storage Controllers|DEC Storage Controllers]] | |||
** [[:Category:DEC Disk Drives|DEC Disk Drives]] | |||
** [[:Category:DEC Tape Drives|DEC Tape Drives]] | |||
* [[:Category:DEC Terminals|DEC Terminals]] | |||
* [[:Category:DEC Software|DEC Software]] | |||
** [[:Category:DEC Operating Systems|DEC Operating Systems]] | |||
* [[DEC Modules by bus]] | |||
* [[Digital Technical Journal]] | |||
* [[Taxonomy of DEC consoles]] | |||
* [[DEC indicator panel]] | |||
==Further reading== | ==Further reading== | ||
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* Edgar H. Schein, ''DEC is Dead, Long Live DEC'', Berett-Koehler, San Francisco, 2003 | * Edgar H. Schein, ''DEC is Dead, Long Live DEC'', Berett-Koehler, San Francisco, 2003 | ||
* Clayton M. Christensen, ''The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail'', Harvard Business School, Boston, 1997 - Briefly discusses DEC's inability to adapt to the world with personal computers | * Clayton M. Christensen, ''The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail'', Harvard Business School, Boston, 1997 - Briefly discusses DEC's inability to adapt to the world with personal computers | ||
* Alan R. Earls, ''Digital Equipment Corporation (Images of America)'', Arcadia, Charleston, 2004 - Mostly covers the early years | * Alan R. Earls, ''Digital Equipment Corporation (Images of America)'', Arcadia, Charleston, 2004 - Mostly covers the early years | ||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
===Books=== | |||
* [https://www.computerhistory.org/pdp-1/_media/pdf/dec.digital_1957_to_the_present_(1978).1957-1978.102630349.pdf Digital Equipment Corporation - Nineteen Fifty-Seven To the Present], 1972-78 - Thumbnail entries, but good coverage | |||
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* Jamie Parker Pearson, [http://gordonbell.azurewebsites.net/digital/digital%20at%20work%201992.pdf ''Digital at Work: Snapshots from the First Thirty-Five Years''], Digital, Burlington, 1992 - good overview with many direct quotations from DEC engineers | |||
<!-- https://www.computerhistory.org/pdp-1/_media/pdf/dec.digital_at_work.1992.102630350.pdf --> | |||
* C. Gordon Bell, J. Craig Mudge, John. E. McNamara, [http://gordonbell.azurewebsites.net/Computer_Engineering/contents.html Computer Engineering: A DEC View of Hardware Systems Design], Digital Press, Bedford, 1978 - a fair amount of technical detail | |||
<!-- http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/_Books/Bell-ComputerEngineering.pdf --> | |||
* [https://www.pdp8online.com/bklatt/cables.html digital Cables Handbook] | |||
===Websites=== | |||
* [https://gordonbell.azurewebsites.net/Digital/DECMuseum.htm Gordon Bell's CyberMuseum for Digital Equipment Corp] | |||
** [https://gordonbell.azurewebsites.net/Digital/timeline/dechistory.htm Digital 41 Year History CD] | |||
** [https://gordonbell.azurewebsites.net/CGB%20Files/DEC_Is_Dead_Bell_Appendix_Schein_Book.pdf Appendix for Edgar H. Schein “DEC is Dead, Long Live DEC”] - An interesting take on where/how DEC went wrong | |||
* [https://vt100.net/timeline/ Digital Computing Timeline (1957-1997)] | |||
* [https://www.abortretry.fail/p/work-at-the-mill Work at the Mill] - "the Story of Digital Equipment Corporation" | |||
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20210104122645/https://digital.com/digital-equipment-corporation/ The Tragic Tale Of DEC, The Computing Giant That Died Too Soon] (archived) | |||
* [http://www.decconnection.org/digitalstechnology.htm Digital's Technology Heritage] | * [http://www.decconnection.org/digitalstechnology.htm Digital's Technology Heritage] | ||
* [https://decuserve.com/ DECUServe On-Line] - long-standing, very technical, discussion forum for users of DEC gear | |||
* [https://www.ultimate.com/phil/pdp10/dec.disks DEC disk history] | |||
* [http://www.vaxarchive.org/hardware/cables.html Cables Reference Guide] | |||
* [http://www.avanthar.com/healyzh/decemulation/decemu.html The DEC Emulation Website] | * [http://www.avanthar.com/healyzh/decemulation/decemu.html The DEC Emulation Website] | ||
* [https://vt100.net/dec/logo History of the Digital logo] | |||
{{ | {{Nav DEC}} | ||
[[Category: Manufacturers]] | |||
[[Category: Computer Manufacturers]] | |||
[[Category: Digital Equipment Corporation]] | [[Category: Digital Equipment Corporation]] | ||
[[Category: PDP-10 Users]] | |||
Latest revision as of 15:48, 22 October 2026
Digital Equipment Corporation, or DEC, was a large computer company (at one time, the second-largest in the world after IBM). They made minicomputers, their signature product (and the one that led to their success), for a period, the most popular kind of computers in the world. Their product range eventually extended from small mainframes to personal computers.
It was started in 1957, in an old wool mill in Maynard, Massachusetts. The original product line was modules, System Modules. Once those were established, they started producing computers using them.
They reached the peak of their success in the 1980s, with their VAX line. However, they were unable to successfully adapt to the rise of personal computers, which turned computers into commodities, and were bought by Compaq in 1998.
See also
- List of Programmed Data Processors
- DEC manuals
- DEC part numbers
- DEC engineering drawing numbers
- DEC acronyms
- DEC Semiconductor Chips
- DEC Packaged System Nomenclature
- Edited Option/Module List
- DEC Software-related Order Codes
- DEC Documentation Errors
- DEC Hardware
- DEC Boards
- DEC Architectures
- DEC Buses
- DEC Systems
- DEC Processors
- DEC Memories
- DEC Peripherals
- DEC Terminals
- DEC Software
- DEC Modules by bus
- Digital Technical Journal
- Taxonomy of DEC consoles
- DEC indicator panel
Further reading
- Glenn Rifkin, George Harrar, The Ultimate Entrepreneur: The Story of Ken Olsen and Digital Equipment Corporation, Contemporary, Chicago, 1988 - The best general history of DEC, but stops at 1987
- Edgar H. Schein, DEC is Dead, Long Live DEC, Berett-Koehler, San Francisco, 2003
- Clayton M. Christensen, The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail, Harvard Business School, Boston, 1997 - Briefly discusses DEC's inability to adapt to the world with personal computers
- Alan R. Earls, Digital Equipment Corporation (Images of America), Arcadia, Charleston, 2004 - Mostly covers the early years
External links
Books
- Digital Equipment Corporation - Nineteen Fifty-Seven To the Present, 1972-78 - Thumbnail entries, but good coverage
- Jamie Parker Pearson, Digital at Work: Snapshots from the First Thirty-Five Years, Digital, Burlington, 1992 - good overview with many direct quotations from DEC engineers
- C. Gordon Bell, J. Craig Mudge, John. E. McNamara, Computer Engineering: A DEC View of Hardware Systems Design, Digital Press, Bedford, 1978 - a fair amount of technical detail
- digital Cables Handbook
Websites
- Gordon Bell's CyberMuseum for Digital Equipment Corp
- Digital 41 Year History CD
- Appendix for Edgar H. Schein “DEC is Dead, Long Live DEC” - An interesting take on where/how DEC went wrong
- Digital Computing Timeline (1957-1997)
- Work at the Mill - "the Story of Digital Equipment Corporation"
- The Tragic Tale Of DEC, The Computing Giant That Died Too Soon (archived)
- Digital's Technology Heritage
- DECUServe On-Line - long-standing, very technical, discussion forum for users of DEC gear
- DEC disk history
- Cables Reference Guide
- The DEC Emulation Website
- History of the Digital logo
| v • d • e Digital Equipment Corporation |
|---|
| 18-bit machines - PDP-1 • PDP-4 • PDP-7 • PDP-9 • PDP-15
12-bit machines - PDP-5 • PDP-8 • LINC-8 • PDP-12 36-bit machines - PDP-3 • PDP-6 • PDP-10 16-/32-/64-bit machines - PDP-11 • VAX • MIPS • Alpha Also: Buses • Peripherals • Part numbers • Engineering drawings |
