EFE.- If the computers we know today have a common ancestor, that is the IBM PC. The first to introduce an open architecture where parts are easy to add and replace, the “grandfather” of personal computing achieved unprecedented success that marks 40 years this Thursday.
Introduced in society on August 12, 1981, the first personal computer The historic New York manufacturer was born in an emerging market that in the previous decade had been dominated by Apple, Tandy and Commodore, and was also being entered by IBM competitors such as Hewlett-Packard and Texas Instruments.
The novelty of the IBM model, therefore, was not the concept, but its design.
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Bet on compatibility
Based on the then fledgling idea of open architecture, the computer that was codenamed “Acorn ”was not entirely built by a single companyInstead, IBM used standardized parts from various vendors to build a device that was compatible with parts from other manufacturers.
Thus, for example, the IBM PC used Intel chips (the historic 8088, 8259 PIC, 8237 DMA, and 8253 PIT) and Microsoft software (MS-DOS), and allowed users with sufficient knowledge to disassemble the drive. central processing to add or remove those elements that they want.
The objective was to go on the market with a device that, unlike the rigid models that were being sold to date, allow the consumer total freedom to adapt it to their needs and to other manufacturers to build compatible parts and accessories.
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40,000 units sold per month
The bet was a resounding success: IBM sold 40,000 units a month according to journalistic information of the time; other brands immediately started manufacturing following the same standards; and just a few months after its release, Time magazine named the computer “man of the year” in 1982.
The influence of the IBM PC is such that the word that is still used in English today to refer to desktop computers (“PC”) has its origin in this model (until then it was common to speak of these computers as ” microcomputers ”in contrast to the large machines used in companies and laboratories).
The success with consumers further increased pressure on other manufacturers, who now had to build parts and software compatible with the popular IBM device or risk being relegated to a corner of the market.
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IBM overtakes Apple
The device also represented an earthquake in the competition for the primacy of one of the sectors with the greatest projection for the following years, with the newcomer IBM prevailing over Apple, which had been the benchmark firm throughout the 1970s.
In addition to the novelty of the open architecture, the IBM PC had slots for two floppy disks and an optional color monitor, and could be purchased from non-manufacturer-controlled stores such as Sears & Roebuck and Computerland, something that was also the first time. , but that became the norm from that point on.
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