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Why did IBM fail at PCs?

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing July 3, 2017October 4, 20211980s, 1990s, acer, AIX, apple, compaq, datacenter, dell, hp, IBM, intel, lenovo, mainframe, Packard Bell, Personal Computer, proprietary unix, thinkpad, unix, VHS, XT

If you ask why did IBM fail, I assume you mean why did IBM ultimately fail in the personal computer market. IBM is still in business, after all. But its exit from the PC market after 24 years, including a period of dominance in the 1980s, does seem curious. And it raises another question: What does IBM do now?

I experienced IBM’s fall in this market firsthand. I sold computers at retail in 1994 and 1995. IBM’s computers at that time were no worse than anyone else’s, but I had an extremely difficult time selling them. Many consumers didn’t trust IBM and didn’t want to get somehow locked in. There was nothing wrong with those machines, but it sure was a lot easier to just sell them a Compaq.

Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.

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The IBM PS/1 (or IBM PS1)

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing June 27, 2017March 22, 20241990s, acer, amiga, apple, best buy, compaq, dell, IBM, Packard Bell, Personal Computer, playstation, sony, sony playstation, Tandy, tandy 1000, thinkpad, video game

The IBM PS/1, sometimes called the IBM PS1, was a line of 1990s personal computer systems, not to be confused with the Sony Playstation video game console that’s also often called the PS1. The PS/1 was IBM’s second attempt at a mass market consumer PC, after the ill-fated PCjr.

You can neatly divide the PS/1 into two generations. While they ran the same software, they had major philosophical differences. Perhaps more than any other computer line, they represent IBM’s change of heart in the early 1990s as it tried to survive in an extremely competitive and crowded market.

Dave Farquhar

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Commodore 64 models

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing June 12, 2017October 19, 20181541, 1980s, Aldi, amiga, apple, apple ii, atari, Australia, CES, commodore, commodore 64, compaq, IBM, infoworld, intel, Japan, MOS, nintendo, Personal Computer, public domain

Over the course of its 12 years on the market, Commodore released a number of Commodore 64 models. The computer’s capability changed very little over time, but the technology did. The world changed a lot between 1982 and 1994, and that gave Commodore some opportunities to lower costs, chase other market segments, or both.

Here’s an overview of the various Commodore 64 models that hit the market over the machine’s long life.

Dave Farquhar

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IBM PS/2 series

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing May 17, 2017September 30, 20231980s, 1990s, amiga, atari, atari st, compaq, dell, hp, IBM, infoworld, intel, macintosh, Personal Computer, Tandy, VGA, XT

The IBM PS/2 line, released April 2, 1987, was IBM’s attempt to reinvigorate its aging personal computer line and fight off cloning. Although the line sold fairly well, it failed to hold off cloning and IBM never regained the market dominance it enjoyed in the first half of the decade.

The IBM PS/2 did offer numerous enhancements over the PC line it replaced, but IBM’s customers came to resent the high price and the perception that IBM was trying to lock out third party peripherals. IBM’s decline was slow, but the PS/2 was the beginning of the end for IBM’s personal computer business.

Dave Farquhar

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Advantages and disadvantages of Lotus 1-2-3

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing March 22, 2017August 16, 20181980s, excel, IBM, intel, Personal Computer

Lotus 1-2-3 was the killer app that made the IBM PC the standard for computers. It wasn’t the first spreadsheet, but it ran on a computer that could easily address more than 64K of memory, it was fast, and relatively bug free. So it was super successful. Today we know it as the thing people used before Excel. So what were the advantages and disadvantages of Lotus 1-2-3?

Dave Farquhar

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Commodore 64 vs Amiga

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing March 3, 2017September 6, 20181980s, 1990s, 6502, amiga, amiga os, atari, atari st, commodore, commodore 64, compaq, hp, intel, kmart, motorola, Packard Bell, Personal Computer, unix, XT

Looking at the Commodore 64 vs Amiga seems a little odd, at least to me. After all, the machines were never intended to be rivals. The Amiga was supposed to succeed the 64. Commodore bought Amiga because they couldn’t make a 64 successor on their own, so they intended for the Amiga to replace it. It didn’t fully succeed, and maybe that’s why the comparison is still interesting.

Looking back, the machines may seem similar today. But in 1985 they sure didn’t.

Dave Farquhar

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The first Compaq computer

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing December 22, 2016April 23, 20231990s, commodore, compaq, IBM, intel, Personal Computer

The first Compaq computer was its eponymous Compaq Portable. It was a suitcase-sized clone of the original IBM Personal Computer, with an Intel 8088 CPU running at 4.77 MHz running Microsoft MS-DOS. It was hardly the first non-IBM computer to run MS-DOS, but it was the first legal IBM PC clone with a high degree of compatibility.

Compaq announced it in November 1982 and shipped the first unit in March 1983. It originally cost $2995 for a single-drive unit. A dual-drive unit, which was much more useful, cost $3,590.

Dave Farquhar

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Commodore 64 vs 64c

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing May 9, 2016October 19, 20181541, 1980s, 1990s, Bil Herd, c64, commodore, commodore 64, IBM, Personal Computer, Tandy, tandy 1000

The Commodore 64 went through a number of revisions throughout its long life. The most outwardly visible of those revisions was the transition from the tan, boxy C-64 to the thinner, lighter-colored 64c. If you’e wondering about the Commodore 64 vs 64c, here’s what you need to know.

Dave Farquhar

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Women in tech: The forgotten story of Vector Graphic

Dave Farquhar Hardware, Retro Computing July 27, 2015March 13, 20241980s, altair, apple, apple ii, asus, commodore, dell, Gary Kildall, hp, IBM, intel, Michael Dell, Personal Computer, radio shack, Tandy, vector, yahoo

I frequently hear lamentations about the number of women in the technology field–or the lack of them. Although there have been a number of successful women in the field, such as Meg Whitman, CEO of HP and formerly Ebay; Marissa Meyer, CEO of Yahoo; and Carly Fiorina, former CEO of HP, men outnumber women in the field and often by a large margin.

That perhaps makes it even more sad that few remember Vector Graphic today. Last week Fast Company profiled this pioneering computer company that time forgot.

Dave Farquhar

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IBM PCjr and Tandy 1000

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing January 29, 2014September 26, 20221980s, apple, apple ii, christmas, commodore, commodore 64, IBM, ibm pcjr, lenovo, macintosh, mainframe, Personal Computer, radio shack, Tandy, tandy 1000, XT

On January 29, 1984, two computers hit the market. One was Apple’s Macintosh. It needs no introduction. The other was the IBM PCjr. It was a little less successful. We’ll talk about what this has to do with the Tandy 1000 in a minute.

The PCjr is one of the biggest flops in computing history. Few people know much more about it than that. It ended up being an important computer, but it certainly didn’t meet IBM’s expectations. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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