Origin of the term minicomputer (was Re: PDP-1 as minicomputer [was RE: OT - sort of])

[Chuck Guzis]

On 18 Aug 2010 at 9:25, Al Kossow wrote:


> The earliest use of the term as we use it today was an ad in
> Datamation announcing the (Varian) Data 520i in April, 1968.

That would, etymologically speaking, put the term more in the 
American "miniskirt" (1966) camp that came over with the Mod 
subculture and the Beatles, than the BMC/Morris "Mini (1959) one.  
I'd suspected the auto usage was more exclusively British.

Could we say that the minicomputer owes its origins to Carnaby 
Street?

--Chuck