21 Apr
1999
21 Apr
'99
12:57 p.m.
> *My* gauge of when the PC became the dominant
force was when:
> 1. Dr. Dobb's started carrying few articles other than ones talking about
> MS-DOS
> and
> 2. The quantity of IBM PC ads in the back of BYTE outinched the
> number of S-100 ads
> Looking at my back issues, I'd draw the line at 1985.
Did Dr. Dobb's and Byte really represent the
mainstream?
Dr. Dobb's in the early 80's kind-of split itself between dedicated
hobbyists and professional (business-based, usually) microcomputer
programmers, with a lot of influence from the mini world. BYTE was
really wide-ranging, and actually did a pretty good job at covering
not only what the current hot seller was, but also exploring into
the nooks and crannies of the industry as new things came out. *Both*
lost most of their variety when the IBM PC and early clones steamrolled
through.
How about something even more subjective:
IBM PC became the dominant force when, ...
The fun went out of the industry.
That's kind-of-sort-of the same thing :-(.
Who can assign dates to when the industry lost its
sense of humor? Such
as: when Kentucky Fried Computer became NorthStar?
when Thinker Toys became Morrow Designs?
when Intergalactic Digital Research became Digital Research Inc.?
The DRI change was before 1976 by a year or two, I believe. My first
copy of CP/M (1.3) says "Digital Research" under Gary Kildall's signature
on the license, and that's from 1976.
Wasn't there also "Itty Bitty Machines" which was forced to change
its name when leaned on by a slightly larger company with similar initials?
--
Tim Shoppa Email: shoppa(a)trailing-edge.com
Trailing Edge Technology WWW: http://www.trailing-edge.com/
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