LINC is a 12-bit, 2048-word transistorized computer.
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11 Facts About LINC
2.
The LINC is considered by some the first minicomputer and a forerunner to the personal computer.
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3.
The LINC's design was literally in the public domain, perhaps making it unique in the history of computers.
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4.
DEC's pioneer C Gordon Bell states that the LINC project began in 1961, with first delivery in March 1962, and the machine was not formally withdrawn until December 1969.
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5.
Later modification to the LINC added a 12-bit Z register to facilitate extended precision arithmetic, and an interrupt was provided forcing execution to location 21.
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6.
The LINC instruction set was designed for ease of use with scientific instruments or custom experimental apparatus.
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7.
LINC users demonstrated this by punching holes in a tape with an ordinary office paper punch.
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8.
LINC keyboard, manufactured by company named Soroban Engineering, had a unique locking solenoid.
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9.
LINC included a set of eight three-turn potentiometers that could be each be read by a computer instruction.
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10.
LINC hardware allowed a 12-bit word to be rapidly and automatically displayed on the screen as a 4-wide by 6-high matrix of pixels, making it possible to display full screens of flicker-free text with a minimum of dedicated hardware.
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11.
The first follow-on, the LINC-8, booted to a PDP-8 program called PROGOFOP (PROGram OF OPeration) which interfaced to the separate LINC hardware.
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