Question: who is considered the 'father' of the minicomputer

title: Minicomputer
text: A minicomputer , or colloquially mini , is a class of smaller computers that was developed in the mid-1960s and sold for much less than mainframe and mid-size computers from IBM and its direct competitors . In a 1970 survey , the New York Times suggested a consensus definition of a minicomputer as a machine costing less than US $25,000 , with an input - output device such as a teleprinter and at least four thousand words of memory , that is capable of running programs in a higher level language , such as Fortran or BASIC . The class formed a distinct group with its own software architectures and operating systems . Minis were designed for control , instrumentation , human interaction , and communication switching as distinct from calculation and record keeping . Many were sold indirectly to original equipment manufacturers ( OEMs ) for final end use application . During the two decade lifetime of the minicomputer class ( 1965 -- 1985 ) , almost 100 companies formed and only a half dozen remained .