Before The Personal Computer
"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
-Thomas Watson, Chairman of IBM, 1943
Now, there are 1.2 billion PCs in the whole world. You might ask, "How did that happen?" Read on if you want to find out.
Before the invention of the IBM PC, the majority of the United States had never heard of a personal computer. Only enthusiasts would buy low power, small computers that resembled mainframes (no screen, only switches and lights). In fact, the 1973 Edition Collier’s Encyclopedia article on computers does not even mention the Desktop Computer, or the PC..
Only the largest of businesses could afford computers. Some would cost over $9 million and required a quarter acre of air conditioned space to run. Almost all computers took over 50 people to run, they used punch cards and had to be constantly programming it with new instructions. In the office, you would type with a typewriter, and if you needed to copy something, you would run it through the mimeograph.
The main reason that IBM created the PC line of computers is because they saw opportunity in the new computing market. They also had early PCs in the 1970s, and decided to improve on their designs. They also wanted their computer to be affordable and available to everyone, unlike their earlier microcomputers, which could cost over $25,000. The outcome was completed in 1 year.
"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
-Thomas Watson, Chairman of IBM, 1943
Now, there are 1.2 billion PCs in the whole world. You might ask, "How did that happen?" Read on if you want to find out.
Before the invention of the IBM PC, the majority of the United States had never heard of a personal computer. Only enthusiasts would buy low power, small computers that resembled mainframes (no screen, only switches and lights). In fact, the 1973 Edition Collier’s Encyclopedia article on computers does not even mention the Desktop Computer, or the PC..
Only the largest of businesses could afford computers. Some would cost over $9 million and required a quarter acre of air conditioned space to run. Almost all computers took over 50 people to run, they used punch cards and had to be constantly programming it with new instructions. In the office, you would type with a typewriter, and if you needed to copy something, you would run it through the mimeograph.
The main reason that IBM created the PC line of computers is because they saw opportunity in the new computing market. They also had early PCs in the 1970s, and decided to improve on their designs. They also wanted their computer to be affordable and available to everyone, unlike their earlier microcomputers, which could cost over $25,000. The outcome was completed in 1 year.