Data General

Data General. It was a pioneering American minicomputer firm founded in 1968 by former Digital Equipment Corporation engineers. The company quickly rose to prominence with its influential Data General Nova series, becoming a major competitor in the burgeoning minicomputer market of the 1970s. Its story, including the development of the Data General Eclipse line and the intense project chronicled in the book The Soul of a New Machine, is a seminal chapter in the history of Silicon Valley and the computer industry.

History

The company was established in Westborough, Massachusetts by Edson de Castro, Henry Burkhardt III, and Richard Sogge, key engineers who had worked on the PDP-8 at Digital Equipment Corporation. Securing venture capital from Fairchild Semiconductor co-founder Eugene Kleiner, the firm challenged its former employer by releasing the innovative 16-bit Data General Nova in 1969. Throughout the 1970s, it grew rapidly, going public and expanding internationally, with significant operations in Europe and Asia. The late 1970s saw the launch of the Data General Eclipse family and the beginning of a critical internal project to develop a 32-bit machine, leading to a famed engineering rivalry. This period of intense innovation and competition is vividly documented in Tracy Kidder's Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Soul of a New Machine.

Products

Its initial and most famous product line was the Data General Nova, a compact, 16-bit minicomputer that used semiconductor memory instead of magnetic core memory, offering strong performance for scientific and industrial applications. The higher-end Data General Eclipse series, introduced in 1974, featured advanced virtual memory and supported the AOS and RDOS operating systems. Later, the company launched the MV series of 32-bit superminicomputers, such as the Eclipse MV/8000, to compete with systems from DEC's VAX and IBM. It also manufactured Data General/One portable computers, disk storage subsystems, and developed its own CEO office automation software.

Corporate culture and impact

The engineering-driven environment was famously intense and competitive, fostering a "skunkworks" mentality, particularly during the development of the Eclipse MV/8000 as described in The Soul of a New Machine. This culture prized technical ingenuity and relentless deadlines, creating a model that influenced many subsequent Silicon Valley startups. The company's success in the OEM market and with technical users in laboratory automation, computer-aided design, and manufacturing solidified its role as a key player in the democratization of computing power before the rise of the personal computer.

Decline and legacy

During the 1980s, it struggled against the rising tide of microprocessor-based workstations from companies like Sun Microsystems and Apollo Computer, and the encroachment of personal computers from IBM and Apple Inc.. A late and costly foray into the UNIX market with its AViiON servers, based on Motorola 88000 and later Intel processors, failed to regain significant market share. After years of financial losses, the company was acquired by EMC Corporation in 1999, which absorbed its storage technology and consulting services. Its legacy endures through its influence on computer architecture, its portrayal in technology literature, and the many engineers who later founded or led other significant technology companies.

Notable employees

Among its many talented personnel were Steve Wallach, co-architect of the Eclipse MV/8000; Tom West, the legendary project manager featured in The Soul of a New Machine; and Carl Alsing, a key software engineer on the same team. Other alumni include John William Poduska, founder of Apollo Computer and Stellar Computer; David H. H. Hwang, a pioneer in local area network technology; and Jean-Louis Gassée, who later became an executive at Apple Inc. and founded Be Inc..

Category:Computer companies of the United States Category:Defunct computer hardware companies Category:Companies based in Massachusetts Category:Companies established in 1968