17 May
2005
17 May
'05
7:34 a.m.
Subject: mini versus micro?
From: Saquinn624 at aol.com
Date: Tue, 17 May 2005 01:48:51 -0400 (EDT)
To: cctalk at classiccmp.org
One thing that I have been wondering for a while is what the current
definition of minicomputer is.
It used to be contrasted with microcomputers, the telling difference being a
multichip processor implementation versus a single-chip microprocessor [if so,
are the POWER1 and POWER2 processors
minicomputer processors?] but now, with microprocessors being used in
mainframes (and even on-topic mainframes) is this distinction meaningless [i.e.
should the designation "microcomputer" in its size/power context be replaced
with
something else?] and, if so, does the [whatever micro becomes]/mini/mainframe
become a question of mass (>700 lbs mainframe, >100 lbs mini, <100 lbs [???]),
or history (the HP3000 started life as a mini, therefore the spectrum models
continue as minis . . .), or does the venerable minicomputer cease to exist?
any other ideas?
Scott Quinn
Minicomputer in my lexicon is any computer that DID NOT start as
a microcomputer chip. Examples: Nova, PDP-8, PDP-11 even VAX.
Those wer picked as in every case there is a Microcomputer implmentation
that came later. In most cases the Micro version is as capable or
more so as a result of developmental maturity.
Second part of that is it stops being a MINICOMPUTER when it's small
enough that a rack is not the standard mounting platform.
So age, type and mass are determining factors. The term mini came from
the '60s when computers started from filling rooms to fitting in
office corners. The concurrent event is skirts got way shorter too,
hence the name.
Allison