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From: abm88@ecs.soton.ac.uk (Morley A.B.)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: IBM PC prehistory
Message-ID: <581@ecs.soton.ac.uk>
Date: 17 Jan 90 12:18:06 GMT
References: <1546@aber-cs.UUCP> <33896@mips.mips.COM> <21559@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU> <1989Dec30.235854.14254@world.std.com> <10131@microsoft.UUCP> <250@dg.dg.com> <129994@sun.Eng.Sun.COM> <256@dg.dg.com> <1990Jan15.144928.6705@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>
Organization: University of Southampton, UK
Lines: 34

mcdonald@aries.scs.uiuc.edu (Doug McDonald) writes:

>In article <256@dg.dg.com> uunet!dg!rec (Robert Cousins) writes:
>>In article <129994@sun.Eng.Sun.COM> kenobi@sun.UUCP (Rick Kwan - Sun Intercon) writes:
>>>I have often wondered what would happen if IBM had chosen the 68000
>>>instead of 8088/8086, and tailored a their own simple OS to run on
>>>it?  I think IBM could very easily have produced such a thing.  They
>>>certainly had the expertise.
>>>
>>>	Rick Kwan
>>>	Sun Microsystems - Intercontinental Operations
>>
>>Well, IBM did make a 68k based machine, the IBM 9000 from IBM Instruments.
>>If memory serves me correctly, it was written up in BYTE at approximately
>>the same time as the PC was becoming popular.  Does anyone care to 
>>throw in more info?  
>> 
>       ^^

>You have the word wrong. It is "up", as in "throw up", which is
>what people did when looking at one of those. We had a couple.
>UTTER GARBAGE. I watched IBM demo them - their machine wouldn't run
>for quite a while, and they never were able to get it to take
>data from the device it was connected to, nor to print anything.

>The delivered products were worse than useless.

>The problems probably had little if anything to do with the processor,
>and a lot to do with the programming. Also, this was a rather
>independent IBM division.

>Doug McDonald

Ha Ha Ha! I remember Personal Computer World reviewed it and said that they thought  it would be the next IBM PC!