95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
|
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
|
-
+
|
I hope you've found this overview interesting and enlightening. If you would like more on this topic, the various versions of DEC's Small Computer Handbook for the PDP-8 cover this in more detail and take you beyond it, into actual programming of a PDP-8:
* The [1967-1968 edition](http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/dec/pdp8/handbooks/SmallComputerHandbook_67-68.pdf) was first published before the PDP-8/I was formally released, so its first drafts must have been written with reference to a pre-production unit. (PDF, 21 MB.)
A telltale of this is that the machines pictured on the front cover of that edition are an original PDP-8 (a.k.a. the "Straight 8") and a PDP-8/S, even though the book claims to cover the PDP-8/I.
I have here in my possession a paper copy of a later edition, also labelled as the "1967-1968" edition but with an actual PDP-8/I on the front. You can quickly tell the difference between [these two editions](http://apple1computer.blogspot.com/2010/03/alleged-woz-bible-small-computer.html) by the greenish-yellow background behind the machine, as compared to the orange background behind the older machines. Unfortunately, I'm not aware of a PDF source of the newer edition.
I have here in my possession a paper copy of a later edition, also labelled as the "1967-1968" edition but with an actual PDP-8/I pictured on the front. (Two of them, actually: the standard rack cabinet version and the rare console/desk version.) You can quickly tell the difference between [these two editions of the manual](http://apple1computer.blogspot.com/2010/03/alleged-woz-bible-small-computer.html) by the greenish-yellow background behind the machines on the later version, whereas the first edition has an orange background behind the older machines depicted. Unfortunately, I'm not aware of a PDF source of the newer edition.
* The 1973 edition for the [PDP-8/e, PDP-8/f, and PDP-8/m](https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_decpdp8hanHandbook1973_79671711) is not entirely relevant to the PDP-8/I we're primarily concerned with here on this web site, but they did refine the tutorial material quite a bit over the earlier editions, so it is sometimes helpful to read the equivalent material in this newer edition when trying to figure something out. Just be aware that not everything applies to a PDP-8/I. (PDF, 76 MB.)
---------------------
**Footnotes and Digressions**
|