PC form factor - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

1 Jul 1999

I was acquainted with a couple of guys from the Niwot plant (IBM) who were
temporarily assigned to BOCA for the PC development effort.  The company
actually gathered quite a number of hobbyists to see what information they
could get from them.  Apparently they didn't listen too well.  Back in '81,
when the PC came out, it was pretty widely believed that IBM had gotten the
form factor for its cards and the notion of packaging for I/O in the way
they used from the Apple-][.  It (Apple) was, after all, the most successful
single company in the personal computer market and seizing a major share of
the desktop market.  Their approach wasn't a bad one from the I/O
convenience standpoint.

Dick

-----Original Message-----
From: Sellam Ismail &lt;dastar(a)ncal.verio.com&gt;
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
&lt;classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu&gt;
Date: Thursday, July 01, 1999 9:09 PM
Subject: Re: PC form factor

...
 On Thu, 1 Jul 1999, William Donzelli wrote:

> > Since most folks are right-handed, having the drives on the right is
pretty
...
    reasonable.  The physical design was allegedly
patterened after the
 pple-][ whose market IBM coveted. 
 I really doubt that they looked at Apple for the design. IBM has pretty
 much been on top of the pile as far as ergonomics and ease of maintenance
 since the 1950s. Sure, the PC is not exactly their shining moment, but it
 does show some thought for a design with a low production cost in mind. 
Acually, there are rumors abound that IBM modeled the PC after the
successful Apple ][.  But, rhey are just rumors and anecdotes passed
around like those in Dick's message.

Sellam                                    Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com
...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---
...
 Don't rub the lamp if you don't want the genie
to come out.

             Coming this October 2-3: Vintage Computer Festival 3.0!
                   See http://www.vintage.org/vcf for details!
                        [Last web site update: 05/25/99]