Technical text: Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC)
Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC)
DEC is a major manufacturer of computers and related products based in
Kenneth Olsen and Harlan Anderson, engineers and graduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, founded Digital in 1957. They concentrated on creating computers and computer products that could be used by people other than computer programmers. Digital introduced its first computer, the PDP-1 (Programmable Data Processor 1), in 1960. The PDP-1 featured a cathode-ray tube monitor and was substantially smaller than the standard mainframe computers of the time. Although it sold for around $120,000 the PDP-1 was much less expensive than mainframes, which then cost about $1 million.
In 1965 Digital introduced the PDP-8, one of the first minicomputers, which at $18,500 was one of the least expensive computers on the market at the time. By 1973 the PDP-8 was the largest-selling computer in the world. Customers for the PDP-8 and subsequent models included university computing facilities and research labs. The PDP-11, introduced in 1970, sold extremely well and was not discontinued until 1997.
During much of the 1970s and 1980s, Digital ranked second to International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) in the overall computer market. In the late 1970s Digital developed the VAX line of computers, which offered more power than previous minicomputers and an operating system that simplified software development. The VAX line sparked renewed growth in sales.
Digital’s profits began to decrease in the late 1980s as competition in the computer industry increased. Digital also was late in entering the market for personal computers, which emerged as the industry’s leading product. In 1991 the company lost money for the first time, forcing its first large-scale layoffs. In 1992 Olsen, who had guided the company from its creation, resigned as chief executive officer. After more financial losses, the company avoided collapse by reducing costs and cutting thousands of jobs.
In 1995 the company introduced an Internet search engine called AltaVista, which became one of the most widely used search engines on the World Wide Web. Digital also created alliances with other leading corporations in the computer industry to use Digital’s 64-bit Alpha microprocessor, the AltaVista search engine, and other network products.