IBM created the PC to counter the Apple computer on the mainframe operator‘s desk. IBM needed to get their ‘toy’ on the mainframe operator’ desk. That’s why they farmed out the software. IBM considered the PC was a toy. This approach almost killed IBM.
They bought the operating system from some nerdy guy in Seattle that lifted it from another company...............
“IBM considered the PC was a toy. This approach almost killed IBM.”
Very true that. IBM culture was that the computer was a business machine. Some of the more open-minded inside the company started their move into PC world. If I have my facts correct, one of them was killed in the August 1985 flight from New Orleans to Dallas in a bad storm.
But even after their accepting the PC, IBM, and DEC too, believed that all the PC hardware had to be built in-house to be competitive. That eventually was rejected for obvious reasons. IBM’s glory is in the past .... may have peaked the day before they were hauled in court by LBJ at the end of his term for anti-competitive violations.
Yes. Exactly. I led the desktop team at Mutual of New York during the early 80s. I sold management on the idea of increased productivity by replacing the IBM dumb terminals on the desk of users for their mainframe health insurance and pension application with IBM pcs. We rolled out 500 pcs in head quarters. The problem was we need Reflections software for the 3270 emulation. At the time there was an honor system on the software use. I should have paid a large fee. I ripped them off. I feel bad about that and also for the parking meters I stole when I was 8.