Data General Dead
Data General
KindCompany
Founded1968
Defunct1999
StatusDead
FoundersEdson de Castro
FieldMinicomputers
Sourcebitsavers.org ↗
Founded by DEC defectors — the Nova and Eclipse minis immortalized in Kidder's 'The Soul of a New Machine.' Bought by EMC in 1999.
1960198020002020
De Castro left DEC in 1968 after his PDP-8/X successor plan was rejected and founded DG with three colleagues. The 16-bit Nova (1969) cost $4,000 and matched DEC's midrange — the first real 'mini-mini' competitor.
The Eclipse MV/8000 skunkworks that raced the VAX was documented in Tracy Kidder's 1981 Pulitzer winner. DG faded with the mini market; EMC acquired it for $1.1 billion in 1999, mainly for CLARiiON storage.