PDP-8
E232116
The PDP-8 is a pioneering 12-bit minicomputer introduced in the 1960s that became widely known for its low cost, compact size, and major role in popularizing minicomputers in industry and education.
All labels observed (6)
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T2038700 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: PDP-8 Context triple: [Digital Equipment Corporation, notableProduct, PDP-8]
-
A.
PDP-7
The PDP-7 was a 1960s DEC minicomputer whose relatively low cost and flexible design made it popular in research labs and notable as the machine on which the first version of Unix was developed.
-
B.
PDP-11
The PDP-11 is a series of 16-bit minicomputers introduced by Digital Equipment Corporation in the 1970s that became highly influential in computer architecture and operating system development.
-
C.
PDP-1
The PDP-1 was an early 1960s minicomputer famous for its interactive computing capabilities and for running some of the first video games, including "Spacewar!".
-
D.
COSMAC ELF computer
The COSMAC ELF computer is a simple, low-cost, build-it-yourself microcomputer from the late 1970s that became popular among hobbyists for learning and experimenting with early personal computing.
-
E.
Honeywell 316 minicomputer
The Honeywell 316 minicomputer was a small, 16-bit general-purpose computer from the late 1960s widely used in early networking and control applications.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: PDP-8 Target entity description: The PDP-8 is a pioneering 12-bit minicomputer introduced in the 1960s that became widely known for its low cost, compact size, and major role in popularizing minicomputers in industry and education.
-
A.
PDP-7
The PDP-7 was a 1960s DEC minicomputer whose relatively low cost and flexible design made it popular in research labs and notable as the machine on which the first version of Unix was developed.
-
B.
PDP-11
The PDP-11 is a series of 16-bit minicomputers introduced by Digital Equipment Corporation in the 1970s that became highly influential in computer architecture and operating system development.
-
C.
PDP-1
The PDP-1 was an early 1960s minicomputer famous for its interactive computing capabilities and for running some of the first video games, including "Spacewar!".
-
D.
COSMAC ELF computer
The COSMAC ELF computer is a simple, low-cost, build-it-yourself microcomputer from the late 1970s that became popular among hobbyists for learning and experimenting with early personal computing.
-
E.
Honeywell 316 minicomputer
The Honeywell 316 minicomputer was a small, 16-bit general-purpose computer from the late 1960s widely used in early networking and control applications.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (53)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
12-bit computer
ⓘ
minicomputer ⓘ |
| abbreviationOf |
PDP-8
self-linksurface differs
ⓘ
surface form:
Programmed Data Processor-8
|
| addressSpace | 4K words ⓘ |
| addressSpaceExpandableTo | 32K words ⓘ |
| architectureType | 12-bit architecture ⓘ |
| cpuType | discrete transistor logic ⓘ |
| dataWordSize | 12 bits ⓘ |
| family | PDP series ⓘ |
| formFactor |
rack-mounted system
ⓘ
tabletop configuration ⓘ |
| impact |
considered the first commercially successful minicomputer
ⓘ
widely adopted in small laboratories ⓘ widely adopted in universities ⓘ |
| initialPriceUSD | 18000 ⓘ |
| instructionSetType | simple accumulator-based ISA ⓘ |
| instructionWordSize | 12 bits ⓘ |
| introducedInYear | 1965 ⓘ |
| iODevices |
DECtape drives
ⓘ
line printer ⓘ magnetic disk drives ⓘ paper tape reader ⓘ teletype terminal ⓘ |
| manufacturer | Digital Equipment Corporation ⓘ |
| marketedAs | low-cost computer ⓘ |
| memoryWordSize | 12 bits ⓘ |
| notableFor |
compact size
ⓘ
low cost ⓘ popularizing minicomputers ⓘ |
| osSupport |
FOCAL monitor systems
ⓘ
OS/8 ⓘ PS/8 ⓘ TSS-8 ⓘ |
| predecessor | PDP-5 ⓘ |
| primaryRegister | accumulator ⓘ |
| programmingLanguageSupport |
BASIC
ⓘ
FOCAL ⓘ Fortran ⓘ
surface form:
FORTRAN
PAL-8 assembly ⓘ |
| successor |
DECmate
ⓘ
PDP-12 ⓘ PDP-8 self-linksurface differs ⓘ
surface form:
PDP-8/A
PDP-8 self-linksurface differs ⓘ
surface form:
PDP-8/E
PDP-8 self-linksurface differs ⓘ
surface form:
PDP-8/I
PDP-8 self-linksurface differs ⓘ
surface form:
PDP-8/L
VT78 ⓘ |
| technology | transistor-transistor logic ⓘ |
| usedIn |
data acquisition
ⓘ
education ⓘ industry ⓘ laboratory automation ⓘ process control ⓘ |
| wordLength | 12 bits ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: PDP-8 Description of subject: The PDP-8 is a pioneering 12-bit minicomputer introduced in the 1960s that became widely known for its low cost, compact size, and major role in popularizing minicomputers in industry and education.
Referenced by (9)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
subject surface form:
Digital Equipment Corporation
this entity surface form:
Programmed Data Processor-8