From its inception in 1957, Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), headquartered in Maynard, Massachusetts, carved itself a role in American business unlike any other company. Launched by Massachusetts Institute of Technology engineer Ken Olsen with a $70,000 investment from the country's first venture capital firm, DEC rapidly became a pioneer in computer technology. In its heyday, DEC had a valuation of more than $12 billion and employed approximately one hundred twenty thousand people worldwide, making it second only to IBM. Its people and technology contributed to making computers increasingly affordable, which led directly to the advent of the personal computer, the first computer games, and computer networks. DEC was also a leader in the Internet revolution, claiming the dubious distinction of launching the first spam mailing and registering one of the first commercial domain names. Through photographs of people, events, and machines, Digital Equipment Corporation tells the story of the unassuming computer revolutionaries who reshaped the technological world. It is written for anyone who is interested in how the present era of computing ubiquity has evolved since the 1940s, when IBM chairman Thomas Watson predicted that the whole world might need no more than five computers.
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About the Author
The author, Alan R. Earls, is a journalist who has covered high technology, including the final years of DEC, since the early 1980s. Earls is the author of Route 128 and the Birth of the Age of High Tech, in Arcadia Publishing's Images of America series.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great for those of us who where part of it,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Digital Equipment Corporation (MA) (Images of America) (Paperback)
I worked at DEC from from 1977 until the Compaq and HP mergers and enjoyed looking at the old photos. That said, you have to wonder why some of the pictures are included (unknown person in front of a door, doesn't say much about anything). I'm sure my fellow ex-DECies could have provided better photos to go with the text.
Digital was a great place to be and this book brings back some of the memories.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
DEC lives on in these photos,
By
This review is from: Digital Equipment Corporation (MA) (Images of America) (Paperback)
I have a nagging feeling this book is best suited for those who worked at DEC. If this describes you, then you are welcome to a flood of nostalgia as you turn the pages.
Many of the best selling DEC machines are shown. The PDP, the DEC-10, the Vaxes and the MicroVax. But the photos also show some of the people instrumental in getting those projects accomplished. The photo collection is not that systematic. No doubt it omits many or most of those at DEC. But at least, in some small way, DEC lives on in this book.
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Where's the beef?????,
By none2perdy (NH) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Digital Equipment Corporation (MA) (Images of America) (Paperback)
Pretty much no history of either the product or the company. Just lots of relatively meaningless pictures of board room type meeting poses. I gave the book away to a library - it was the only way I could justify the cost...
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
DEC was founded with the help of $70,000 from General Doriot's ARD venture capital organization, which bought a 70 percent stake in the company. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Ken Olsen, Reid Brown, Puerto Rico, American Woolen, Gordon Bell, Standard Pulse, New Hampshire, David Cutler, Andy Knowles, Bruce Butts, General Doriot, Larry Coppenrath, Myles Connors, President Reagan, Alan Kotok, Bob Lassen, Digital Laboratory System, Electronic Products, Harlan Anderson, John Parchem, Republic of Ireland, San German New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
DEC was founded with the help of $70,000 from General Doriot's ARD venture capital organization, which bought a 70 percent stake in the company. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Ken Olsen, Reid Brown, Puerto Rico, American Woolen, Gordon Bell, Standard Pulse, New Hampshire, David Cutler, Andy Knowles, Bruce Butts, General Doriot, Larry Coppenrath, Myles Connors, President Reagan, Alan Kotok, Bob Lassen, Digital Laboratory System, Electronic Products, Harlan Anderson, John Parchem, Republic of Ireland, San German New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 3
books:
- Electronic Products (Design & Make It) by Dave Mawson on page 117
- The Ultimate Entrepreneur: The Story of Ken Olsen and Digital Equipment Corporation by Glenn Rifkin in Front Matter
- DEC Is Dead, Long Live DEC: The Lasting Legacy of Digital Equipment Corporation by Edgar H Schein in Front Matter
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