| IMLAC Corporation was an American electronics company in Needham, Massachusetts, that manufactured graphical display systems, mainly the PDS-1 and PDS-4, in the 1970s.
The PDS-1 debuted in 1970. It was the first low-cost commercial realization of Ivan Sutherland's Sketchpad system of a highly interactive computer graphics display with motion. Selling for $8,300 before options, its price was equivalent to the cost of four Volkswagen Beetles. The PDS-1 was functionally similar to the much bigger IBM 2250, which cost 30 times more. It was a significant step forward towards computer workstations and modern displays.
The PDS-1 consisted of a CRT monitor, keyboard, light pen, and a control panel on a small desk with most electronic logic in the desk pedestal. The electronics included a simple 16-bit minicomputer, 8-16 kilobytes of magnetic-core memory, and a display processor for driving CRT beam movements.
IMLAC is not an acronym but is the name of a poet-philosopher from Samuel Johnson's novel, The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia. |
