> > > > My _guess_ is that that probably happened because there is no formal > 'model' > for that first one (unlike the first -11, which got re-named the -11/20 > BITD), and people recently picked that to disambiguate them from all the > other -8's. > > > The original PDP 11 was sold in two model options, although the numbers did not appear on the faceplace, very clearly the model options were called PDP 11/10 and PDP 11/20. These are just as legitimate and well defined as the 11/05 vs. 11/10 (later version) that followed it except for the one fact of the front plate. The fact that the name does not appear on the front panel has caused every DEC historian to miss this factoid. Read the first brochure, don't take my word for it. http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=593
Momentum prevents change I get it, but it's clear that the model 11/20 and 11/10 existed from day one. The problem is that DEC re-used the 11/10 model name again a few years later, the other cause for neglecting the original 11/10 model. Bill