There actually
may be more PDP-12s out there today than there are PDP-8s
or PDP-8/Is. Certainly more than the PDP-8/S or LINC-8 machines.
If only I could find a LINC-8. :-/
Something I've been wondering about -- my prep school had what I very
strongly remember being labeled as a LINC-5, definitely DEC, a large
cabinet with formica counter under a blinkenlight front panel. And
a TTY or Flex-o-writer positioned next to or mounted on an "L" or
return extension of the counter. The powder blue/lime green color
scheme from the LINC-8 photos looks right, but it was definitely in
the neighborhood of ~5 feet tall rather than a standard 19" rack. It
was built out of what must have been Flip Chips, in a cage around to
the right of the unit as you faced the console.
Sadly they decommissioned it after my first year (1981/82), and I never
got a chance to learn anything about it - it was reserved for upper
classmen only. Also, the sole teacher who understood the beast (Mr.
Garrison, noted for his gruff nature and pipe smoking) was leaving or
retiring after that year.
Is my memory faulty and this had to be a LINC-8, or was there such a
thing as a LINC-5?
Thanks,
--Steve.
LINC Links:
The LINC: An Early "Personal Computer" [Quick history. --S.]
http://www.ddj.com/documents/s=1493/ddj0004hc/do200007hc001.htm
Laboratory Instrument Computer (LINC) "The Genesis of a Technological
Revolution" [Nice, narrative history of the original development. --S.]
http://www.nih.gov/od/museum/exhibits/linc/main.html
What different PDP-8 models were made?
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/dec-faq/pdp8/section-6.html