DEC’s PC Challenge 1982

[Recorded: 1982] This corporate documentary produced by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) chronicles DECs two year odyssey to bring three personal computers, the Professional 325 (PRO-325), the Professional 350 (PRO-350), and the Rainbow 100 to market a year after IBM launched their personal computer. DEC’s strategy was driven by the fear was that if they did not immediately create a successful product that the Japanese who were already producing low cost IBM PC compatibles would capture the market. The narrative follows the challenges of the CT Program Group – Avram Miller (project manager), Michael Weinstein (merchandising), Ron Ham (software), Art Williams (hardware), and Vah Erdekian (manufacturing), as they race to develop a personal computer to show at the June 1982 National Computer Conference in Houston, Texas. This film traces the project from its conception through the design and manufacturing process and documents the intellectual and engineering challenges inherent in creating a new technology product. Gordon Bell sums up this challenge when he says, What we are trying to do with computers is to make a machine that is in fact so good that it can be an intellectual companion with humans. DEC’s goal was to build from scratch a personal computer business that would create over 120000 personal computer small systems the first year of production, and that by 1985 would be worth $3.5 billion. Digital Equipment Corporation was founded in 1957 by Ken Olsen and …

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