History of the PLC
AutomationDirect’s blog often discusses new products the company is introducing. These are many as the company has transitioned from PLC Direct with a catalog sales model dating from the mid-90s selling Koyo PLCs rejected by Siemens when it had acquired that division of Texas Instruments to the present super-distributor model.
Recently they posted an article on the history of the PLC. It is an interesting read. Entirely not self-serving.
I do remember the company from the early 2000s when it was a pioneer of adding Ethernet to its controller line. My interviews with the engineer who developed all that technology were always enlightening.
This is an interesting read, worth a few minutes of your time.