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From: mwm@eris.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: What's a PC?
Message-ID: <3726@jade.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: Wed, 27-May-87 06:03:38 EDT
Article-I.D.: jade.3726
Posted: Wed May 27 06:03:38 1987
Date-Received: Thu, 28-May-87 06:45:44 EDT
References: <852@vu-vlsi.UUCP> <587@ll1.UUCP> <474@houxa.UUCP>
Sender: usenet@jade.BERKELEY.EDU
Reply-To: mwm@eris.BERKELEY.EDU (Mike (My watch has windows) Meyer)
Organization: Missionaria Phonibalonica
Lines: 59

In article <474@houxa.UUCP> mel1@houxa.UUCP (M.HAAS) writes:
<I'll leave the legalities to the lawyers, and the functional arguments
<to the academics.    But, PC belongs to IBM by right.

You should have checked with someone other than the lawyers for the
facts, too.

<I think we all owe IBM one on the name "Personal Computer".
<They added the weight of IBM to the concept that one could do
<professional and useful work with what til then were considered
<to be "toys", "home computers", "micro computers".

Well, not by everyone. Some people were calling them personal
computers before IBM announced theirs.

<Before IBM entered the market, you couldn't even think of getting
<a "home computer" for office or personal use.  The few who tried
<to show how useful an Apple II or S100 box was as a tool were
<viewed as being a bit off.

The Apple ][, yeah - making it do real work was hard. Not impossible
after you dropped a z80 CP/M card into it, but still not easy. People
who were using it as an integral part of their music studio will
probably jump all over me for that, but I consider that a rather
special case.

On the other hand, S100 boxes were for real. A fair number of
companies made a living peddling z80 S100 boxes to lawyers & the like,
for doing the same kinds of things that are now done on IBM PC's. I
saw those same boxes doing real-time data acquisition. Finally, there
were multi-user (remember MP/M?) z80 systems serving small offices
before there was an IBM-PC.

The better of those z80 boxes (especially the ones running at 6MHz)
ran rings around the IBM-PC. Considering that the first IBM-PC's came
with 16 or 64K, and zero, one or two floppies (you got a cassette if
you chose zero floppies) whereas a typical office system of the time
had up to 512K, an 8" DSDD floppy and a small hard disk, you tell me
which were the "toys," and which were the real business machines.

I won't even mention the 6809 world. Multitasking with MMU's was
common, and a 2MHz 6809 makes a 5MHz 8088 look sick. They were used
for DA, data entry and clerical work before the IBM-PC, and well after
the XT, at least where the people doing the buying knew they needed
multitasking and were on their toes.

<IBM's choice of the name "Personal Computer" was a genius at work.
<It exactly expresses the concept and coming from IBM, legitimized it.

"Genius," yes. Sorta like Hitler. But if the term "Personal Computer"
belongs to IBM, its because they "stole it, fair and square."

	<mike

--
How many times do you have to fall			Mike Meyer
While people stand there gawking?			mwm@berkeley.edu
How many times do you have to fall			ucbvax!mwm
Before you end up walking?				mwm@ucbjade.BITNET