I.B.M. Bids the PC Adieu

NY Times ^ | Dec 10, 2004

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

The news that I.B.M. is selling its personal computer division is not very surprising. The bloom is long gone off the PC market, profits have plummeted, and the machine has become utterly generic. The brand on the box matters less than it ever has. And that is the direct result of decisions made by I.B.M. before it introduced its first PC in 1981.

In those days, the personal computer was synonymous with Apple, which kept a close hold on its machines. I.B.M. chose to create a PC with parts developed by other manufacturers. It was a great way to get computers into the hands of consumers and to guarantee plenty of competition. But it also meant that the only powerful proprietary grasp to arise from the PC belonged to Intel, which made the processor chips, and to Microsoft, which licensed the operating system called MS-DOS.

The sale of I.B.M.'s PC division to a Chinese company, Lenovo, is both a sign of the future - a close partnership with a growing technological power - and an almost nostalgic reminder of that distant time when a personal computer, by definition, meant I.B.M. If you happened to own one of those early bland-on-bland boxes - monochromatic monitor and all - you probably recall the palpable feeling of "computing." To look at that blinking green cursor was somehow to peer into the inner workings of the machine itself.

It seems strange that the machines grew less interesting as their computing power increased. But that's what happened. Familiarity is one culprit. But so is the lack of attention to the actual experience of using PC's.

Apple still seems to know how to reawaken the fervor those early machines created. But thanks to its proprietary policy, Apple controls only a sliver of the market. In the mainstream, years of cloning the clones resulted so much in least-common-denominator products that I.B.M. now doesn't mind parting ways with the revolution it started.

[the invisib1e hand]

next big thing, anyone? (I said "interface" a litte while ago, so, what else?)

[ClintonBeGone]

I've owned two Apples and although I loved them, I'm quite satisfied with my generic PC. It was too much of a hassle with cross platform applications, etc.

[Dan Middleton]

They haven't been actually making any PCs for several years, have they? I don't remember seeing any.

[upchuck]

Anybody know if IBM will continue to make the Think Pad notebooks?

[1L]

That's my big concern. My TP is the best computer I've ever owned, including ones I've built myself.

[unixfox]

Good Ruck!!

[Cicero]

This is a load of horse manure by a bunch of elite hippie Apple owners who wouldn't know one PC from another. Of course it matters what brand name you buy. Some of them are pretty crummy, others are much more reliable, and prices vary widely too.

[Nick Danger]

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

I found Apple to be a pain in the ass when a new model was introduced and the old left to die.

[Petronski]

But it also meant that the only powerful proprietary grasp to arise from the PC belonged to Intel, which made the processor chips, and to Microsoft, which licensed the operating system called MS-DOS.

There was a third: the BIOS. But that was reverse engineered (by Compaq, I believe) and the rest is history.

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

Desktop is a thing of the past. Once XML or whatever the script chosen takes over, hand held gadgets will rule.

[Redcloak]

Methinks the Chinese just got fleeced.

[PAR35]

In those days, the personal computer was synonymous with Apple,

And Kaypro, Osborne, Radio Shack (Trash -80), Commodore, Heath, TI, Atari and probably some others long forgotten.

[Don W]

Don't buy a Mac

Some off-colour language, but an amusing video clip.

[Nick Danger]

Don't forget that keyboard. The original "klickety-klack" IBM 101-key keyboard is the one part of the first IBM PC that was never improved upon.

I buy 'em on eBay (they don't make 'em anymore) and use them until they die. This one is connected to my new Athlon-64 machine.

[jscd3]

That, of course is not one of the original generation keybards. The original PC keyboard had the cursor keys in the numeric pad, and both the PC and original AT used 10 function keys arranged in to vertical columns on the left. Even with the stupid key placements, they had by far the best touch, though.

Ah, but that 3rd generation IBM keyboard! GREAT touch (although just a little hard), function keys the right way, cursor keys out in the open, and super quality. It was like pounding a mechanical typewriter - a Selectric as a matter of fact! You are right, it was (is) the best. Long dead Northgate computer company made a dead ringer - the "OmniKey" keyboards. I am using an old Omnikey 101 to type this - it's about 12 years old, looks like Hell, and stil works as well as the day I bought it. You couldn't offer me enough money for it...

[Lx]

LOL!