Personal Computer Archives - The Silicon Underground

Why did IBM fail at PCs?

Dave Farquhar — Mon, 03 Jul 2017 11:00:33 +0000

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

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The IBM PS/1 (or IBM PS1)

Dave Farquhar — Tue, 27 Jun 2017 11:00:30 +0000

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

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Commodore 64 models

Dave Farquhar — Mon, 12 Jun 2017 11:00:43 +0000

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

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Commodore 64 vs Amiga

Dave Farquhar — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 12:00:14 +0000

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

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Commodore 64 vs 64c

Dave Farquhar — Mon, 09 May 2016 11:00:55 +0000

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

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IBM PCjr and Tandy 1000

Dave Farquhar — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 11:00:20 +0000

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

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I think this is the secret of Amazon’s success

Dave Farquhar — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 13:23:54 +0000

When talking about e-books Friday, I mentioned that Amazon is making deals with authors directly, cutting traditional publishers out of the loop. And then my wife asked a good question: How does Amazon think of stuff like that? I think

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Happy birthday, IBM PC!

Dave Farquhar — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 12:04:11 +0000

The IBM PC 5150 turns 30 today. IBM didn’t invent the personal computer, but if your computer has an Intel or AMD CPU in it, it’s the direct descendant of the beige box IBM unleashed on the world on August

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Dinosaur hunting

Dave Farquhar — Sun, 23 May 2010 01:06:01 +0000

Today I slipped over to Laclede Computer Trading Company for the first time in many years. I was in search of an ISA parallel card. They're not easy to find these days, mostly because they aren't particularly useful to most people these days, but I figured if anyone would have one, it would be them.

No dice. But man, what memories.

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This could be the one… SSD for the masses

Dave Farquhar — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 01:24:19 +0000

Anandtech released the most thorough article on SSDs I've ever seen. I'm not sure exactly what it set out to be. It's a review of the new OCZ Vertex SSD, but it also explains virtually every SSD technology on the market today, and the strengths and weaknesses of each--over the course of a 30-page odyssey.

The takeaway is this: The OCZ Vertex, which sells for as little as $128 at Newegg for the 30 GB version, gives the much more expensive Intel X25 series a run for its money.

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