[Coco] The CoCo Crew Podcast -- Episode 35 is available!

[Rob Rosenbrock]

I don’t think IBM had an open system; at least not in the way we’d use that term today.

IBM saw that people were using Apples and TRS-80’s on their desktops, alongside their terminals, and realized there was a market that they were missing out on. But there was also the idea that if people were using the desktops, they weren’t using the mainframe. Eventually, they realized, people would shift away from the mainframe environment where IBM made its money.

From what I’ve read, they contracted the design of the PC to an independent hobbyist - I can’t recall his name, though. He used off-the-shelf components that were available, but details of the BIOS were not released. It was only through reverse engineering that Compaq was able to design the IBM compatible computer. Foolishly, IBM allowed Microsoft to retain the rights to MS-DOS, believing that it could only be used on a IBM PC.

After the PC compatible market expanded, IBM tried to recover that market by releasing the PS/2 with the Microbus (?) architecture, which was really an attempt to move that market to a proprietary system that they would be able to control. Needless to say, that didn’t succeed.

I’ve always thought that Apple’s early success with the Apple II was that it was open, with full schematics available. I recall seeing many add-in cards that were available to expand the Apple’s architecture.


> On Apr 18, 2018, at 7:40 AM, Francis Swygert <farna at att.net> wrote:
> 
> Salvador hit the nail on the head -- the intro of the IBM PC (XT) was the nail in the coffin for all the other, smaller computer manufacturers. IBM had an "open system" -- they used more or less off-the-shelf components that were readily available, then published full specs so anyone could make hardware and software for it without special licensing or development kits. The exact opposite of Apple! That eventually led to headaches for IBM, as they quickly lost control of the market. That's why they tried to introduce a proprietary buss some years later... can't remember what it was now... that quickly flopped because no one wanted to go back to proprietary hardware. It (proprietary systems) worked for Apple all these years, but they never have had the market penetration of the PC Clones. Probably as much as IBM itself, but when they came out with that open system it didn't take long for other manufacturers to jump in and play! IBM legitimized the computer as a business machine, which is probably their largest contribution to the PC revolution.  Frank Swygert
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