The IBM PC revolutionized the world as we know it today, enabling our current knowledge and widespread use of personal computers.
In July of 1980, IBM first met with Microsoft representatives to create a new operating system (OS) for their personal computer that was being developed. Bill Gates gave IBM the idea that it would be effective to have the operating system built into the ROM chip. Microsoft had never written an OS before, so they talked with Gary Kildall, who had created the most successful operating system of the time. He refused to sign a non-disclosure agreement, so Microsoft bought the rights to the QDOS (“Quick and Dirty Operating System”) from Seattle Computer Products. QDOS was based on Kildall’s OS, but was different enough to be legal. From QDOS, Microsoft created MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System) for use in the first IBM PC.
The PC created by IBM consisted of a 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 processor and 16 KB of memory. It came with one or two 160 KB floppy disk drives and an optional color monitor. It cost $1,565, which in today’s prices, would be roughly $4,000. Unlike previous computer attempts by IBM, the PC was sold by outside distributors, including Sears, Roebuck & Co. and Computerland. At the end of 1981, Time magazine named the computer “man of the year.”
The computer revolutionized the world as we know it today. It has enabled many new technologies, and as result of the computer, Internet has become a major part of our everyday lives. Within a few years, many clones of the original PC were being developed by companies such as Compaq. Microsoft grew into a multi-billion dollar company because of the start it had with the IBM PC. With the PC, many things previously impossible became possible, which we take for granted now.