9 May
2009
9 May
'09
7:43 a.m.
--- On Fri, 5/8/09, Chuck Guzis <cclist at sydex.com> wrote:
If we had been left with IBM as the only proponent of
the
PC, it
might well have been just a memory, like the 5100.
If the clone hadn't manages to capture so great a portion of the market (and keep in
mind that people bought clones because they were peecee compatible), eventually the price
would have dropped and likely many people would have bought one anyway, though granted not
as fast as the clone prices did. Would something else have stepped in and rivaled the pc?
Possibly, but I really don't think it would be the Amiga or Atari STs. The Amiga had
that funky interlaced video thing, and Ataris were, well Ataris. This isn't to run
down either, and you could have either for significantly less money then a real IBM. But
both were by companies that made game machines. It was the air of professionalism (and
again the huge amount of s/w available) that made their market so robust. You were getting
a *real* computer, no simply a glorified toy (at least in many people's minds
that's what they were).
The 5150 became the 5160 before long. Disappear from the market? Oh I really don't
think so.