19 Aug
2010
19 Aug
'10
12:49 a.m.
It?s my understanding, and I stand to be corrected, that mini,
hyphenated or otherwise, simply meant a small computer system that
preceded the microcomputer era. Granted this, the term means
different-things-to-different-people, the consensus seems to be that
the term mini means smaller than a mainframe and matches comparable
words from the 60?s, i.e., mini-skirt, et al. As a(n) historian I
treat it as a cultural phenomena rather than just a purely technical
or technological definition. Whether purists agree is indeed
debatable!
Murray--