DEC's PC Challenge 1982

[Recorded: 1982]
This corporate documentary produced by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) chronicles DECs two year odyssey to bring three personal computers, the Professional 325 (PRO-325), the Professional 350 (PRO-350), and the Rainbow 100 to market a year after IBM launched their personal computer. DEC's strategy was driven by the fear was that if they did not immediately create a successful product that the Japanese who were already producing low cost IBM PC compatibles would capture the market.
The narrative follows the challenges of the CT Program Group - Avram Miller (project manager), Michael Weinstein (merchandising), Ron Ham (software), Art Williams (hardware), and Vah Erdekian (manufacturing), as they race to develop a personal computer to show at the June 1982 National Computer Conference in Houston, Texas.
This film traces the project from its conception through the design and manufacturing process and documents the intellectual and engineering challenges inherent in creating a new technology product. Gordon Bell sums up this challenge when he says, What we are trying to do with computers is to make a machine that is in fact so good that it can be an intellectual companion with humans. DEC's goal was to build from scratch a personal computer business that would create over 120,000 personal computer small systems the first year of production, and that by 1985 would be worth $3.5 billion.
Digital Equipment Corporation was founded in 1957 by Ken Olsen and Harlan Anderson. The video briefly traces Digitals technological history beginning with their first computer the PDP-1; the PDP-6, a timesharing computer created by four engineers including Gordon Bell; the PDP-8, the worlds first minicomputer through the PDP-11 a series of 16-bit minicomputers that sold from 1970 until the 1990s. The documentary describes Digital as the 2nd largest computer company with 68,000 employees, working in 39 countries across five continents. Digital was the leader of mini-computers controlling 38% of the market.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Computer
• History
• Museum
• Digital
• Equipment
• Corporation
• DEC
• PC
• documentary
• personal
• Professional
• 325
• PRO-325
• PRO-350
• Rainbow
• 100
• Avram
• Miller

[apple2forever]

Thanks for posting this.

What was interesting to me, was watching the body language (lots of arms folded in meetings), and noting that Ken Olsen's quote "we had an obligation" to do it, doesn't have the same passion as "we built computers we wanted to use ourselves" (attributable to Woz and others at Apple)

The focus on 'beating' the Japanese in the PC market, seemed to show a focus on the wrong competitors. How many of you use an MSX system today?

[dragonheadthing]

That was a neat documentary. Thanks for posting.

[Groth1175]

@pixelr0 Not sure, all I know is my PC bluescreens constantly.

[pixelr0]

@Groth1175 programers today are so high level that they don't even understand how the computer works. Sure they are "efficient" but at what cost?

[DevSodDribble]

The HP plant in Andover still has a few mousepads, keyboards and plastic kit trays with the old 'DIGITAL' logo. Kind of neat to learn some history here.

[ssalemi]

Avram Miller. Whatever happened to him?

[Groth1175]

I wonder what ever happened to this attitude towards programming, doubt these people would have ever tolerated the kind of sloppy bloat we deal with now.

[leliep]

Thanks for posting this. We really had a good Time with DIGITAL.

[pcfix411]

ComputerHistory, This video rocks.

[x246869]

We were a Dec shop and had a few of those PCs.

I played with the Rainbow a bit later.