Dec072009
DEC - gone but not forgotten
Filed under Software / computing by david brooks at 10:01 am
(As one commenter notes, this is the Compaq version of the DEC logo; the original was blue.)
Digital Equipment Corp.’s move to New Hampshire in the 1970s was the biggest single event that moved this state from its post-textile-industry funk into its edge-of-Route-128-tech-corridor present. (Nashuans would say the most important event was military electronics firm Sanders Associates, now part of BAE, moving into a closed textile mill downtown, which happened decades earlier. But DEC had a much higher profile.)
The end of the minicomputer era deflated DEC, which is now part of H-P*, but its memory lingers in the Greater Boston Area where it was born. It lingers so much that Mass High Tech is excited to report there’s even a documentary film about DEC in the works.
Plus, you can get the Digital logo on a necktie!
*I originally wrote Compaq, which would have been true three or four years ago … hey, it’s Monday morning.
December 7th, 2009 at 8:28 am
Um, you're a little behind the times here. Yes, DEC was purchased by Compaq but then Compaq was purchased by HP. So the sentence should read “The end of the minicomputer era deflated DEC, which is now part of HP…”
December 7th, 2009 at 9:28 am
(sound of forehead being slapped and shout of “D'oh!”)
I have fixed it.
December 7th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
I worked in the DEC PC group from 1994 until 1998 when Compaq purchased Digital. Still hard to believe a New England institution is gone.
December 8th, 2009 at 8:41 am
Speaking of NE tech companies that are gone… everytime I go south on Rte 3 past the Wang towers I try to remember what happened to Wang. Anyone remember offhand?
December 8th, 2009 at 8:44 am
According to wikipedia (so I wouldn't put this in print):
Wang Laboratories filed for bankruptcy protection in August 1992. After emerging from bankruptcy, the company eventually changed its name to Wang Global. In 1999, Wang Global was acquired by Getronics of The Netherlands.
December 8th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
The DEC logo was blue. Compaq made the change to the burgendy color you have here.
Worked there for 30 yrs until HP. Was a very sad day, it was. But then in the 90s the mgmt there was so out of touch with the market.
December 8th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
I have had trouble finding a blue “digital” logo (to use for free, that is). The red one is easily accessible online, for some reason.
December 9th, 2009 at 8:52 am
Had never though much about DEC logo evolution. Came across some interesting history:
http://vt100.net/dec/logo
http://www.cs.uiowa.edu/~jones/pdp8/logos/
December 9th, 2009 at 9:01 am
Interesting … notice that none of the examples on either page are blue; they're all red or brown or a few other weird colors.
Maybe “mcarlton504″ isn't right about the pre-Compaq color.