Digital Unveils Upgraded PC System for Office Use

Digital Equipment Corp. showed off some new equipment Monday that is intended to ensure a big role in the burgeoning office market by marrying its Rainbow personal computer to its bigger minicomputers.

Digital, the nation’s No. 2 computer manufacturer behind IBM, hopes to silence critics who say the company--the leading maker of minicomputers--has fallen behind in the emerging market for smaller, cheaper personal computers.

The system unveiled Monday was an upgraded version of Digital’s poor-selling Rainbow and related software and other equipment.

Kenneth H. Olsen, chairman and founder of the 28-year-old company, said the products are “one more step toward fully integrating personal computers into (the workplace) in a disciplined, organized and consistent way.”

Digital pioneered the minicomputer, which is sized between big mainframes and the new, smaller personal computers.

A minicomputer costs anywhere from $30,000 to $500,000.

Digital’s VAX series of minicomputers dominates the market, especially in engineering and other technical fields, and has been central to the success of the $6-billion firm. But the future of the minicomputer is questioned by some who say the increasingly powerful personal computer is encroaching on the mini’s turf.

The potential threat took on additional significance for Digital when the Rainbow, its entry in the personal computer market, did poorly in retail stores. Critics said it didn’t seem to fit in Digital’s lineup of computers or meet the needs of the company’s traditional, sophisticated customers in industry.

The equipment displayed Monday represents Digital’s effort to meld the personal computer with the minicomputer in the office, which is one of the fastest-growing computer markets. The office has become a hot arena of competition for companies that specialize in personal computers, such as Apple Computer Co., and more established firms such as Digital, IBM and Data General Corp.

The traditional office system links a central minicomputer to “dumb” screens, or monitors, at employees’ desks. Digital and other firms are developing more sophisticated networks in which each “work station” can compute on its own and communicate with others throughout a company.

“Stand-alone personal computing in the office is a thing of the past,” said Henry Ancona, head of Digital’s office and information systems group.

Although Digital has been criticized for the Rainbow--in fact, Digital announced last month that it was halting production of the basic model--other analysts believe that the company is in the best position to exploit the office-automation market.

“Instead of a dangerous threat to the established traditional minicomputer vendors, the networked work station approach represents a substantial opportunity for those vendors,” said analyst Daniel S. Chertoff of Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. “Of the traditional vendors, Digital is the best positioned.”

Digital’s newest equipment includes an upgraded version of the Rainbow called Rainbow 190, which it called a “top-of-the-line office work station” with the ability of a personal computer and software and related equipment linking it to the VAX.