Thus creating a hierarchy of power among the nerds. Access was limited to the upper class white men, the first "nerds", those who would father the cyborgian generation. Therefore the impact on society was very limited, in fact, only a subculture of computing enthusiasts emerged (who would eventually saturate popular culture in the 80's). Access to such resources (as computers suck as The Colossus could provide) were limited to those who specifically sought out the potential of computing. While operating systems (originally called monitors or supervisors) had been developed as a means of improving the throughput of computers in the late 1950s, the users were frustrated by their lack of intimacy with the computer. In 1963 the process of standardization of the elements of the fledgling industry was becoming prevalent, and among the first was a standardized code called ASCII, this code was used for information interchange. For the first time ever, there was a means for computers to exchange information, but it would take almost 15 years before this would become commonplace.
The next large leap in computing potential came in 1965. While some companies were developing bigger and faster machines, Digital Equipment Corporation introduced the PDP-8, the first, true, minicomputer. The PDP-8 had a minuscule instruction set and a primitive micro-language, but it had an excellent interface capability. Thus the PDP-8 became extensively used as a process control system, including interfacing to telephone lines for time-sharing systems. Socially the smaller size was a huge hit. This is ironic coming from a time when bigger was always better. Nonetheless, as size grew smaller, so did price, while availability soared, giving the power of such resources to the public. Other advancements, like interface and standardized control, added to the increasing ease, which vastly appealed to the desiring public.