In 1963, the first commercially successful minicomputer was distributed by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). The DEC PDP-8 was the successor to the PDP-1, the first computer demonstrated by the two-year old DEC in 1959. The advent of commercial minicomputing was to have a significant influence upon the development of university computing science departments. The distribution of the 12-bit PDP-8 Computer opened the floodgates of the minicomputer market for other companies.
