18 Aug
2010
18 Aug
'10
2:46 p.m.
Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2010 09:25:34 -0700
From: Al Kossow <aek at bitsavers.org>
Subject: Origin of the term minicomputer (was Re: PDP-1 as
minicomputer [was RE: OT - sort of])
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
<cctalk at classiccmp.org>
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The earliest use of the term as we use it today was an ad in
Datamation announcing the (Varian) Data 520i in April, 1968.
<snip>
Apparently as early as May 1987 the term minicomputer was used in the WHITE
HOUSE executive offices and quoted in several newspapers, along the lines,
"Without a minicomputer one really can't tell ..."
Given the lack of technical expertise in Washington, this suggests a much
earlier origin of the word.
Tom
But it
all depends on how you define "minicomputer" as to what
specifically falls in the category.
Who originally created the term? marketing??
18 Aug
18 Aug
2:57 p.m.
Apparently as early as May 1987 the term minicomputer
was used in the WHITE HOUSE executive offices and quoted in several newspapers, along the
lines, "Without a minicomputer one really can't tell ..."
Given the lack of technical expertise in Washington, this suggests a much earlier origin
of the word.
I searched on www.newspaperarchive.com a few minutes ago and saw that
same article, along with a couple of others from 1967. But in most
cases it's written as "mini-computer". That hyphen may make a
difference. It could be newspaper editors simply deciding to hyphenate
a then-unfamiliar word, or, it could be that whoever said the original
quote meant it as, "Without a miniature computer," while having zero
knowledge that something technically called a "minicomputer" was being born.
3:50 p.m.
On 8/18/10 11:57 AM, Evan Koblentz wrote:
It
could be newspaper editors simply deciding to hyphenate a
then-unfamiliar word, or, it could be that whoever said the original
quote meant it as, "Without a miniature computer," while having zero
knowledge that something technically called a "minicomputer" was being
born.
I think this was the case. There are other examples of "mini-computer"
being used where they meant "miniature computer" earlier than the example
I gave, which was why I stated the Varian ad being the first occurrence I
was able to find of the use of the word referring to a machine which we
would consider to be a minicomputer.
This, and the origin of the word "Software" are both poorly documented.
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