An email just came in linking to a BBC story marking the anniversary of the PC: "Computer firm IBM made technological history on 12 August 1981 with the announcement of a personal computer - the IBM 5150."

The IBM PC may have made business history, but it did not make technological history.

Even leaving aside the Apple and the NorthStar, by 1981 there were numerous CP/M (Control Program/something - it was never clear what the M stood for) machines (I actually owned a brown-case Osbourne).

When the IBM was introduced, the CP/Mers were jubilant, regarding the IBM PC as unimpressive and over-priced, but of course the IBM name carried the day with business. Then people reverse engineered the IBM chip, the clone was born, the CP/M guys went broke, and Bill Gates got rich with MS-DOS, which was a CP/M variant. Along the way came Gary Kildall's airplane ride, one of the memorable tales of business misses.

CP/M -- Ave atque vale. But the history should be kept straight. .

posted by James DeLong @ 11:45 AM | Markets: Business, Investment & Innovation

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