The controversy was that IBM copyrighted the ROM BIOS code and didn't want any clone manufacturer to simple copy the chips or type in the assembly code from the IBM doc. Instead, the cloner had to use a "clean room" approach where coders only got the interface specification and had to write their own code from scratch. Phoenix and others did this. In order to prove that their coders were not tainted by seeing IBM code, companies carefully documented the process, in some cases using video tape.
After the original PC bus (ISA for industry standard architecture) was starting to show its age, IBM designed the MCA (micro-channel architecture) to provide a wider data bus and things like plug and play (software-mapped I/O ports and interrupts, auto-discovery). However, by that time, other manufacturers were defining EISA and then PCI and IBM had lost its influence in defining PC standards.
What is more, in the late 80s and early 90s, IBM tried to go the proprietary route with the PS/2 (personal system 2) and OS/2. But by then, few customers wanted to buy systems that locked them into one vendor.
If you revisit the history of the PC, you will see that IBM made it open from the beginning so that other manufacturers could sell peripherals for it (expansion cards, memory chips etc.) This made is possible for cloners to produce the complete PC.
> However, to truly become a power player in the computer market they need to seriously drop prices.
Ummm... did you read the words or just look at the pretty pictures? It said Jobs is not a cost-cutter but instead is focused on creating new value. I think it's refreshing to have a CEO and a company concerned more with creating and developing new ideas than simply slashing costs on tired technology.
Dude, were you even on this planet during the 80s? IBM made the PC an open architecture from the beginning. Including publishing the assembly code for the ROM BOIS. MS made MS-DOS available for any clone manufacturer to install on their products. That is why 95% of people reading this are using Wintel systems.
Slashdot Mirror
IPv6 uses 128 bit addresses. IPv4 uses 32 bit addresses.
"China has 35 people for every one of ours"
How do you arrive at this figure? U.S. has about
300M and China 1.2B. That's 4X not 35X.
/. should have used phi as the icon for this story
The controversy was that IBM copyrighted the ROM BIOS code and didn't want any clone manufacturer to simple copy the chips or type in the assembly code from the IBM doc. Instead, the cloner had to use a "clean room" approach where coders only got the interface specification and had to write their own code from scratch. Phoenix and others did this. In order to prove that their coders were not tainted by seeing IBM code, companies carefully documented the process, in some cases using video tape.
After the original PC bus (ISA for industry standard architecture) was starting to show its age, IBM designed the MCA (micro-channel architecture) to provide a wider data bus and things like plug and play (software-mapped I/O ports and interrupts, auto-discovery). However, by that time, other manufacturers were defining EISA and then PCI and IBM had lost its influence in defining PC standards.
What is more, in the late 80s and early 90s, IBM tried to go the proprietary route with the PS/2 (personal system 2) and OS/2. But by then, few customers wanted to buy systems that locked them into one vendor. If you revisit the history of the PC, you will see that IBM made it open from the beginning so that other manufacturers could sell peripherals for it (expansion cards, memory chips etc.) This made is possible for cloners to produce the complete PC.
> However, to truly become a power player in the computer market they need to seriously drop prices. Ummm... did you read the words or just look at the pretty pictures? It said Jobs is not a cost-cutter but instead is focused on creating new value. I think it's refreshing to have a CEO and a company concerned more with creating and developing new ideas than simply slashing costs on tired technology.
Dude, were you even on this planet during the 80s? IBM made the PC an open architecture from the beginning. Including publishing the assembly code for the ROM BOIS. MS made MS-DOS available for any clone manufacturer to install on their products. That is why 95% of people reading this are using Wintel systems.