Technologizer

Ten Ways to Celebrate the IBM PC’s 30th Anniversary

  • Share
  • Read Later

6. Make fun of the IBM PC Jr.

The home-oriented 1984 follow-up to the original PC remains one of the most legendary flops in tech history. When I worked at PC World, we rated it as the thirteenth worst tech product of all time. Mysteriously, though, we didn’t list it among the 10 worst PCs ever.

7. Buy an IBM PC of your very own.

It was an bestseller, and built like a tank, so lots of examples survive. In fact, it’s downright plentiful on eBay. Here’s one with monitor and printer for $495—$4 less than an iPad.

8. Revisit that famous Apple ad.

Apple greeted Big Blue’s entry into the PC market with a full-page Wall Street Journal ad with a memorable headline: “Welcome, IBM. Seriously.” For years, people thought that Apple’s welcoming attitude was sad in retrospect, given that the PC and PC-compatible machines went on to dominate the market. But I dunno: Today, Apple is the most profitable maker of personal computers on the planet, and IBM isn’t in the game at all any more. Apple triumphed—it just took decades.

9. Check out Benj Edwards’ IBM PC Oddities.

Over at my site, Technologizer, Benj rounded up some weird stuff relating to the PC—including the “MacCharlie” add-on that turned a Mac into a PC. And did you know that Bill Gates co-wrote the first PC game?

10. Contemplate a world without the IBM PC.

That’s what I did in this Technologizer post, which speculates on how life today might be different—or not so different—if Big Blue had decided to stick to mainframes.

MORE: 10 Questions for IBM’s Watson

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. Next