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. | |
| Developer | Digital Equipment Corporation |
|---|---|
| Product family | Programmed Data Processor |
| Type | Minicomputer |
| Release date | March 22, 1965 |
| Introductory price | US$18,500, equivalent to about $184,600 in 2024 |
| Units sold | 50,000+ |
| Platform | DEC 12-bit |
| Predecessor | PDP-5 |
| Successor | PDP-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 sold during the model's lifetime. Its basic design follows the pioneering LINC but has a smaller instruction set, which is an expanded version of the PDP-5 instruction set. 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.