Why was the PDP-8 so popular? I don't understand how a

Universities and research labs.
Do you honestly believe this was a product for the mass market?

>>58744798
That's what was puzzling me

50,000 users sounds like it IS a mass market for its time, like how could there have been that many people with that much interest in that one extraordinarily expensive product

>>58744781

Let's not forget that the PDP-8 was still a 'budget' computing platform when compared to IBM.

Unlike the current fears of automation, computing eliminated humans from the core of business. Literally threw out or repurposed 20% of untrustworthy, petty, error prone, humans (mostly women).

The $140k came from removing/replacing a half dozen folks. It seems $20k/yr in the 60s per bookkeeper (lazy googling) and you had new regulations like the Equal Pay Act making the decision even easier. Because up until now you $140k didn't even get you a meeting with IBM - much less could you dream of sacking them for what might as well be robots.

The allure of no errors, eliminated HR expense of hiring honest/capable bookeepers, work tirelessly and report status at all hours, etc.... gave Industrialists and Banker folks huge boners and streamlined business. Now the PDP was streamlining middle america's small businesses.

These came aboard in the mid 60s and if poke around the datacenters of most Fortune 100s you'll find a row of ancient as IBM stuff with roots back to this first 'computational business' era. Even in the days of virtualization, I still see old AS400 boxen set aside 'just in case' or worryingly still going because it 'just works'.

Along this same time as the rise of the 'military industrial complex' - which basically meant every fucking thing that floated or flew got computer simulations thrown at it. This funding/tech feedback of DoD->College Grad Programs/Nation Labs/Contractors->Industry basically created Silicon Valley and wasn't really meant to make financial sense.

>>58744873
I don't know about the 1960s, but today, there are about 4000 higher education institutions in the US.

If 1960 counts were similar, and a large portion of the universities bought a few computers, plus large businesses and government buying more, it would easily add up to 50,000.

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>>58744781
>I don't understand how a whopping 50,000 different customers who all desired a $140,000 computer could have existed in the 1960s
Manual computing is very expensive
also depressing

Franz Kafka was for a large part inspired by his manual office work in an insurance company

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Think about how much all these people cost every year
now replace them with a single computer and 1 programmer

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There used to be entire "factories" of accountants and human calculators

>>58745618
>>58745634
>>58745666
>>58745549

/thread