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How the IBM PC Changed the World

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the 25th-anniversary-special dept.

Sabah Arif writes "On August 12, 1981, IBM released the IBM PC 5150. In less than two years, IBM had created a computer that would not only change IBM, but the entire world, mostly because it did not follow IBM tradition. It used an outside microprocessor (instead of the nascent IBM 801), operating system and software. Low End Mac recounts the birth of the IBM PC 5150."

9 of 232 comments (clear)

  1. The Next Big Thing by ian_mackereth · · Score: 5, Funny
    I reckon it was the Turbo button that was the best part of early PCs.

    These days, no turbo button, so I'm stuck at a crawling 3GHz...

    1. Re:The Next Big Thing by pimpimpim · · Score: 4, Funny

      Hmmm, let me think, reintroducing something from the 80's as if it was your own innovation..... Maybe you should just wait for the next WWDC! Except that it won't be called 'turbo' anymore (that is really too 80's), but more something like "Engage". And it won't be an actual button, but more some sort of fancy transparent widget.

      --
      molmod.com - computing tips from a molecular modeling
    2. Re:The Next Big Thing by indifferent+children · · Score: 2, Funny
      Hey, we could start expressing Frames Per Second in scientific notation!

      Silly gamer! It's so much easier to change the unit: "I'm getting 13 frames per hour".

      --
      Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it. --Mark Twain
  2. Re:Does it run UBUNTU ? It must run UBUNTU !! by kongit · · Score: 3, Funny

    Sadly I couldn't get it too, wouldn't fit on a 5" floppy.

  3. What? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Haven't you heard? Apple is responsible for everything innovative and great. I can link to a picture gallery of mac users with Apple logos branded and dyed-black hair to prove it.

  4. They Don't Make 'Em Like That Anymore by Vollernurd · · Score: 4, Funny

    Man, the hardware... Hewn from a single piece of purest iron those things were (literally?) bullet-proof. The keyboards would last for years before even one of those keys stopped working.

    Of course, you couldn't lift them. But whilst machines now whirr away at insane speeds and generally work well their keyboards suck.

    Er... that's it. Just got misty-eyed there for a second.

    --
    Smokey, this is not 'Nam, this is bowling. There are rules.
  5. Re:They Don't Make keyboards Like That Anymore by cdn-programmer · · Score: 2, Funny

    This is why I use an IBM keyboard which is over 10 years old on my present machine. The short of it is if the computer will not run this keyboard then I won't buy it or use it.

  6. Maths Co-Pro by clickclickdrone · · Score: 2, Funny

    We're spoiled. I remember a friend enthusing that his firm had just fitted Maths CoPros to their XTs (I think) and that they could now refresh big AutoCad drawings in mere minutes.

    --
    I want a list of atrocities done in your name - Recoil
  7. Eazy-E paid homage... by the+way,+what're+you · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...in his album, 5150: Home 4 Tha Sick

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