Gallery: The evolution of the PC
PDP-8
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 opened Friday in London, 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
Print/View all Posts Comments on this gallery
- Spotlight: PpcSoft iKnow 2009 knowledge management
- Build a $550 bare-bones gaming PC
- ViewSonic PCs (Photos)
- MSI shows off three concept PCs
- New Asus Eee PC 1008P by Karim Rashid is 'fluid' and 'sensual'
- Asus EeeKeyboard PC (photos)
- Gallery: OLPC 3.0 - under $100 laptop
- New PC survival kit: download these free apps on day one
- PC Tools Internet Security 2010 in pictures
- Product Spotlight: Laplink's PCmover
