memory names today) memory.
This was the just the basic system for home use. It did not include a monitor, video card, parallel or serial port, operating system, or floppy drive. If you wanted a 64 KB (remember Bill Gates saying this was enough?) one, including a single diskette drive (where are they today?)
and display (those monitors with a greenish tinge), it would cost a little over $3000. An expanded system for business with color graphics, two diskette drives and a printer would cost about $4,500.
Today, for these amounts (the value of money has changed over the years), you can buy a dozen computers with hyperthreading capabilities (HT technology) that are hundred times faster and store gigabytes of data and
video (computers did not even have a hard drive it those days. It started with tape storage, then 8-inch floppies which got reduced to 5.25- and 3.5 inches and have almost vanished, giving way to USB, CD- and DVD
drives) and with tonnes of software capabilities. And Intel duo core and AMD 64 Athlons are already screaming for desktop attention.
Interestingly, non-IBM PCs were available as early as the mid-1970s, first as do-it-yourself kits and then as off-the-shelf products. They offered a few applications but none that justified widespread use. The fact remains, thought, that even non-IBM PCs are mostly referred to as
IBM-compatibles.
at work. Besides, Apple II was introduced in 1977 and the Atari 800 came out in 1979. However, these systems had proprietary components and designs.
Interestingly, by the end of 1982, qualified retail outfits were signing on to sell the new machine at the rate of one-a-day as sales actually hit a system-a-minute every business day. Newsweek magazine called it "IBM's roaring success," and the New York Times said, "The speed and extent to
which IBM has been successful has surprised many people, including IBM itself."
Key Highlights:
<li>Big Blue remained a major player in the PC market throughout the 1990s