21 Apr
2007
21 Apr
'07
10:30 p.m.
On 21 Apr 2007 at 17:10, Joachim Thiemann wrote:
Actually, somewhere about 1985 I made my first money
programming:
fixing the business app my dad's boss was running on a C64 (can't
remember what it did; database, I guess). This was in germany and I
was 11. I saw plenty of C64's and C128s in business settings until I
left europe in 88. In Canada (and I guess the same was true for the
US) it was a wholly different thing, and by that time, PCs had taken
over.
I recall in 1983 how difficult it was to even *order* a 220V 50Hz
5150 from IBM. The IBM sales office people just shrugged their
shoulders and said that they'd look into it. My impression that IBM
put most of its effort into selling in the US--and that was also the
same target of the Taiwanese clone makers. It could have been a
matter of certification--FCC Part 15 certification was pretty easy to
get, but VDE was whole different matter.
I've noticed the US-Europe divide in other areas. For example, the
Amiga seemed to be much more popular in Europe than in the USA.
Cheers,
Chuck