What Is a Minicomputer?
Minicomputers came to us in the 1960s with the use of transistors and core memory. Thought to be obsolete today, the term is sometimes used for systems that fall in-between the microcomputer and large mainframe systems.
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Origin
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The first successful minicomputer was the 12 bit PDP-8 from Digital Equipment Corporation of Massachusetts. Unlike a mainframe that filled an entire room, the minicomputer took up the space a few large cabinets and the basic version could sit atop a desk.
Reasoning
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Small businesses had no need and often no space for large mainframe computer systems. The minicomputer filled the needs of small business, and were very popular in the scientific community. You could attach peripherals like printers and they could handle word processing and other simple tasks.
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Advances
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The beginning of microcomputers still allowed a place for the minicomputer which was grew from a 16-bit to a 32-bit machine. When they were first introduced, microcomputers were single user machines, low power and not practical for even small businesses.
Low Cost Microprocessors
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Microprocessors improved in the late 1980s and 1990s and cost dropped. Networking systems became an alternative to minicomputers systems.
Today
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HP did not stop taking orders for AlphaServers, a line that came from Ditigal Equipment Corporation, until 2007. Minicomputers are now considered servers and parts of a network. The technology that was the minicomputer has been built on and developed into the microcomputers of today.
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