Digico Limited

Last updated

Digico Limited
Industry Computer hardware
Founded1965
FoundersKeith Trickett and Avo Hiiemae
Headquarters
Stevenage
,
United Kingdom
Key people
 Eric Lubbock (chairman)
Products data loggers, minicomputers

Digico was a British computer company founded in 1965 by Keith Trickett and Avo Hiiemae, two ex-ICL electronics engineers. Former MP Eric Lubbock became chairman in 1969. [1] The company was based in Letchworth initially, moving to a new factory in Stevenage in 1973 [2] and employing about 90 staff. [3]

Contents

Digico's first product was a laboratory data-logging and spectrum analyser hardware system named DIGIAC. This product had been developed before Digico was formed, so was an immediate source of income. [1] Digico soon developed a 16-bit minicomputer series, the Micro 16, for which it was best known for.

Digico Micro 16

Digico quickly started developing a general purpose single accumulator 16-bit minicomputer, the Micro 16, which became available in 1966. Digico was assisted by the Ministry of Technology and the National Research Development Corporation in this development. [1] [2] [4] The first version produced was the Digico Micro 16S (1968), followed by the 16P (1970), then the 16V in 1972. [5] [6]

Example applications
available for Micro 16V [7]
Animal feed mix control
Car park control
Census analysis
Electroencephalography
Gas chromatography
ICL 1900 front ending
Invoicing
Machine tool control
Mass spectrometry
Stock control
Typesetting

The Digico Micro 16V had a standard memory of 4k words with 950 nano second cycle time, expandable to 64k words, and able to support up to 64 external interfaces. It had an optional microprogrammed floating-point unit. [7] The Micro 16V was supported by a simple and flexibly sized executive that could optionally support multiprogramming, disc files and teletypes. [8] The Micro 16V used semiconductor memory, rather than magnetic-core memory as in the previous models. [9]

Digico primarily sold into the data logging market until 1969, when it expanded into areas like process control, stock control and front-end processors for the ICL 1900 mainframe. [1] [10] In 1974 Digico had a turnover of over £1 million (equivalent to £11 million in 2021) and in 1977 well over £1 million. [11] [12]

In 1978 the Digico Micro 16E stackable minicomputer, which was well suited to an office environment, won a Design Council Award for Engineering Products. [13] [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PDP-11</span> Series of 16-bit minicomputers

The PDP–11 is a series of 16-bit minicomputers sold by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) from 1970 into the late 1990s, one of a set of products in the Programmed Data Processor (PDP) series. In total, around 600,000 PDP-11s of all models were sold, making it one of DEC's most successful product lines. The PDP-11 is considered by some experts to be the most popular minicomputer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microcomputer</span> Small computer with a processor made of one or a few integrated circuits

A microcomputer is a small, relatively inexpensive computer having a central processing unit (CPU) made out of a microprocessor. The computer also includes memory and input/output (I/O) circuitry together mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB). Microcomputers became popular in the 1970s and 1980s with the advent of increasingly powerful microprocessors. The predecessors to these computers, mainframes and minicomputers, were comparatively much larger and more expensive. Many microcomputers are also personal computers. An early use of the term "personal computer" in 1962 predates microprocessor-based designs. (See "Personal Computer: Computers at Companies" reference below). A "microcomputer" used as an embedded control system may have no human-readable input and output devices. "Personal computer" may be used generically or may denote an IBM PC compatible machine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acorn Computers</span> British computer manufacturer

Acorn Computers Ltd. was a British computer company established in Cambridge, England, in 1978. The company produced a number of computers which were especially popular in the UK, including the Acorn Electron and the Acorn Archimedes. Acorn's BBC Micro computer dominated the UK educational computer market during the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fujitsu</span> Japanese multinational technology company

Fujitsu Limited is a Japanese multinational information and communications technology equipment and services corporation, established in 1935 and headquartered in Tokyo. Fujitsu is the world's sixth-largest IT services provider by annual revenue, and the largest in Japan, in 2021. The hardware offerings from Fujitsu are mainly of personal and enterprise computing products, including x86, SPARC and mainframe compatible server products, although the corporation and its subsidiaries also offer a diversity of products and services in the areas of data storage, telecommunications, advanced microelectronics, and air conditioning. It has approximately 126,400 employees and its products and services are available in approximately 180 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intel 4004</span> 4-bit microprocessor

The Intel 4004 is a 4-bit central processing unit (CPU) released by Intel Corporation in 1971. Sold for US$60, it was the first commercially produced microprocessor, and the first in a long line of Intel CPUs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SWTPC</span> Defunct US electronic kit and computer producer

Southwest Technical Products Corporation, or SWTPC, was an American producer of electronic kits, and later complete computer systems. It was incorporated in 1967 in San Antonio, Texas, succeeding the Daniel E. Meyer Company. In 1990, SWTPC became Point Systems, before ceasing a few years later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of computing hardware (1960s–present)</span> Aspect of history

The history of computing hardware starting at 1960 is marked by the conversion from vacuum tube to solid-state devices such as transistors and then integrated circuit (IC) chips. Around 1953 to 1959, discrete transistors started being considered sufficiently reliable and economical that they made further vacuum tube computers uncompetitive. Metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) large-scale integration (LSI) technology subsequently led to the development of semiconductor memory in the mid-to-late 1960s and then the microprocessor in the early 1970s. This led to primary computer memory moving away from magnetic-core memory devices to solid-state static and dynamic semiconductor memory, which greatly reduced the cost, size, and power consumption of computers. These advances led to the miniaturized personal computer (PC) in the 1970s, starting with home computers and desktop computers, followed by laptops and then mobile computers over the next several decades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of computer hardware in Eastern Bloc countries</span>

The history of computing hardware in the Eastern Bloc is somewhat different from that of the Western world. As a result of the CoCom embargo, computers could not be imported on a large scale from Western Bloc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Computers Limited</span> British computer company (1968-2002)

International Computers Limited (ICL) was a British computer hardware, computer software and computer services company that operated from 1968 until 2002. It was formed through a merger of International Computers and Tabulators (ICT), English Electric Computers (EEC) and Elliott Automation in 1968. The company's most successful product line was the ICL 2900 Series range of mainframe computers.

Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS) was an American electronics company founded in Albuquerque, New Mexico that began manufacturing electronic calculators in 1971 and personal computers in 1975.

The Content Addressable File Store (CAFS) was a hardware device developed by International Computers Limited (ICL) that provided a disk storage with built-in search capability. The motivation for the device was the discrepancy between the high speed at which a disk could deliver data, and the much lower speed at which a general-purpose processor could filter the data looking for records that matched a search condition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Computers and Tabulators</span>

International Computers and Tabulators or ICT was a British computer manufacturer, formed in 1959 by a merger of the British Tabulating Machine Company (BTM) and Powers-Samas. In 1963 it acquired the business computer divisions of Ferranti. It exported computers to many countries and in 1968 became part of International Computers Limited (ICL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed Roberts (computer engineer)</span> American engineer, entrepreneur and doctor

Henry EdwardRoberts was an American engineer, entrepreneur and medical doctor who invented the first commercially successful personal computer in 1974. He is most often known as "the father of the personal computer." He founded Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS) in 1970 to sell electronics kits to model rocketry hobbyists, but the first successful product was an electronic calculator kit that was featured on the cover of the November 1971 issue of Popular Electronics. The calculators were very successful and sales topped one million dollars in 1973. A brutal calculator price war left the company deeply in debt by 1974. Roberts then developed the Altair 8800 personal computer that used the new Intel 8080 microprocessor. This was featured on the cover of the January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics, and hobbyists flooded MITS with orders for this $397 computer kit.

Ivor Catt is a British electronics engineer known principally for his alternative theories of electromagnetism. He received a B.A. degree from Cambridge University, and has won the Electronic Design magazine's "best product of the year" award on 26 October 1989, after £16 million funding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">One Per Desk</span>

The One Per Desk, or OPD, was an innovative hybrid personal computer/telecommunications terminal based on the hardware of the Sinclair QL. The One Per Desk was built by International Computers Limited (ICL) and launched in the UK in 1984. It was the result of a collaborative project between ICL, Sinclair Research and British Telecom begun in 1983, originally intended to incorporate Sinclair's flat-screen CRT technology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TV Typewriter</span>

The TV Typewriter is a video terminal that could display two pages of 16 lines of 32 upper case characters on a standard television set. The design, by Don Lancaster, appeared on the cover of Radio-Electronics magazine in September 1973.

Computer Technology Limited (CTL) was a British computer company founded in 1965. In 1984 it merged into its holding company and was called Information Technology Limited (ITL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of personal computers</span> History of the consumer personal computer

The history of the personal computer as a mass-market consumer electronic device began with the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s. A personal computer is one intended for interactive individual use, as opposed to a mainframe computer where the end user's requests are filtered through operating staff, or a time-sharing system in which one large processor is shared by many individuals. After the development of the microprocessor, individual personal computers were low enough in cost that they eventually became affordable consumer goods. Early personal computers – generally called microcomputers – were sold often in electronic kit form and in limited numbers, and were of interest mostly to hobbyists and technicians.

ICT 1900 was a family of mainframe computers released by International Computers and Tabulators (ICT) and later International Computers Limited (ICL) during the 1960s and 1970s. The 1900 series was notable for being one of the few non-American competitors to the IBM System/360, enjoying significant success in the European and British Commonwealth markets.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Hamilton, Ross (June 1997). Continuous Path: The Evolution of ProcesControl Technologies in Post-War Britain (PDF). Department of Computer Science (Thesis). University of Warwick. pp. 116, 120, 126. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  2. 1 2 "Rugged simplicity pays off in mini computer sales". New Scientist. 10 May 1973. p. 342. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  3. ↑ "About Digico". digico working group. Archived from the original on 21 August 2013.
  4. ↑ "NRDC backs low-cost computer". Electronics & Power. 14 (2): 81. February 1968. doi:10.1049/ep.1968.0080 . Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  5. ↑ "Digico Hardware". digico working group. Archived from the original on 21 August 2013.
  6. ↑ Searle, Nigel (20 September 1973). "Computer problem-solver". New Scientist. p. 702. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  7. 1 2 micro 16v computer manual (PDF) (Report). Digico Limited. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  8. ↑ Digico Micro 16V Executive data sheet (pdf) (Report). Digico Limited. SA-5301-0-1. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  9. ↑ "Current Projects". digico working group. Archived from the original on 21 August 2013.
  10. ↑ "Small machine at the front". New Scientist. 23 September 1971. p. 688. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  11. ↑ "Minicomputer manufacturers in Britain". New Scientist. 6 June 1974. p. 602. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  12. ↑ Eiloart, Tim (2 February 1978). "Progress chaser". New Scientist. p. 292. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  13. ↑ "Micro 16E". Design Council Slide Collection. 1978. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  14. ↑ "search - Micro 16E". Design Council Slide Collection. 1978. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.