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I'd argue the pdp8 opened the floodgates. That's when the cost of digital computing dropped to the point a research grant or even just discretionary spending in a university department could pay for one, and you didn't need a special room and power supply.

the 11 was when it became more useful. But the 8 was how people realised you could move beyond a calculator to a computer.

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> That's when the cost of digital computing dropped to the point a research grant or even just discretionary spending in a university department could pay for one

I've mentioned this before, but the PDP8 launched in the US about the same time as JCB launched their first (and arguably the first really practical and useful) backhoe loader in the UK, which was about three and a half grand at the time.

Can you imagine the paradigm shift with either of those machines? Not just it's possible to do that work, but you can do that work with *your own one*.

At some point someone has looked at a shiny new PDP8 or a JCB 3C in the showroom and gone "you know what, I'm just going to buy one", and got the chequebook out.

That's an amazing parallel. So much to think about how it changed dynamics of work replacing manual ditch digging and wheelbarrows.

Then maybe also give a nod to the LINC, showing DEC a small 12-bit computer could be made.

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