A Computer of Firsts: The PDP-1

Introduced in 1959, the Programmed Data Processor-1 (PDP-1) was the first computer from Digital Equipment Corporation, the first computer to focus on interaction with the user and the first minicomputer to host a video game, 1962’s Spacewar! But perhaps most importantly, the PDP-1 was the first computer to offer time-share computing, a key breakthrough in making interactive computers practical and economically viable. Its installation at several major facilities, including MIT, would lead it to be key to the rise of hacker culture. Digital Equipment Corporation joined Hewlett-Packard in 2002.