By Nick Heath, 7 May 2009 15:58
It may only be 44-years old but with its myriad switches and a chassis the size of a cupboard, the PDP-8 seems light years away from the modern PC.
But this is the great granddaddy of today's netbooks and smartphones, it was the first computer to be mass produced and sold more than 50,000 - despite costing a princely $18,000 on its introduction in 1965.
The PDP-8 kicks off The National Museum of Computing's PC Gallery, which opens today, where the story of the evolution of the modern PC is told using 50 machines that defined personal computing.
Britain plays a key part in this story of how PCs became cheap, user-friendly and infinitely more powerful, and is well represented by machines from the 1980s - the golden age of computer manufacturing in the UK.
Photo credit: Nick Heath/silicon.com
Comments
There are 4 comments. Join the discussion
1. Natasha
Wot? No Atari! Scandelabra!
2. karen challinor
I have to admit to a wistful fondness for machines you program in octal by flicking switches on the front panel
3. Rory Choudhuri
Warning: Pedant alert!
Photo 12 is not an original Mac. It's a Classic that was launched much later, possibly, the late 80s, if memory serves. It was certainly later than the SE.
4. Daz Hughes
Ooo the ZX81 was my first computer. If memory serves, it was £99, the cheaper model was in kit form.
How I longed for an add-on memory module. Sigh.