PDP-8

PDP-8
A PDP-8 on display at The National Museum of Computing in Bletchley, England. This example is from the first generation of PDP-8s, built with discrete transistors and later known as the Straight 8.
DeveloperDigital Equipment Corporation
Product familyProgrammed Data Processor
TypeMinicomputer
Release dateMarch 22, 1965; 59 years ago (1965-03-22)
Introductory priceUS$18,500, equivalent to about $178,900 in 2023
Units sold50,000+
PlatformDEC 12-bit
PredecessorPDP-5
SuccessorPDP-12

The PDP-8 is a family of 12-bit minicomputers that was produced by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). It was the first commercially successful minicomputer, with over 50,000 units being sold over the model's lifetime.[1] Its basic design follows the pioneering LINC but has a smaller instruction set, which is an expanded version of the PDP-5 instruction set.[2] Similar machines from DEC are the PDP-12 which is a modernized version of the PDP-8 and LINC concepts, and the PDP-14 industrial controller system.

  1. ^ "Early Computing at the NIH - Office of NIH History and Stetten Museum". history.nih.gov. Retrieved 2024-07-17.
  2. ^ "PDP-8 Summary of Models and Options". Section - What is a PDP-5.