From the annals of history comes IBMs awaited announcement of its new "PC" line... check the specs... 
Enjoy!
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First published in Computerworld Aug. 17, 1981
NEW YORK -- The giant of the computer industry is thinking small.
IBM last week announced its smallest system to date, a personal computer. In addition, the firm announced an untraditional marketing agreement with Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Computerland as distributors of the system, and the firm proclaimed it is looking to buy programs from anyone who will listen to it.
Priced to compete with longtime personal computer vendors like Apple Computer, Inc., Radio Shack Corp. and Commodore, Inc., IBM's entry into the personal market, called the IBM Personal Computer, costs between $1,565 and roughly $2,100. It offers 16K- to 256K bytes of main memory, 40K bytes of read-only memory (ROM), up to 320K bytes of diskette storage and printing speeds of up to 80 char./sec.
IBM announced a DOS-oriented operating system for the processor and it also announced a contractual agreement with Digital Research, to provide the commonly used CP/M-86 operating system.
IBM has also contracted with Personal Software, Inc. and Information Unlimited Software, Inc. to provide the Visicalc problem-solving package and the Easywriter word processing package on the processor.
Like other personal computers, the IBM processor offers color graphics capabilities that provide users with a text system capable of displaying 256 characters in any of 16 foreground and eight background colors. It is also capable of displaying graphics in four different colors.
IBM's Personal Computer marks two major firsts for the firm. It is the first time IBM has developed a processor not exclusively aimed at a business audience and it is the first time IBM has made a serious attempt to sell its products outside its internal sales structure.
IBM said the personal computers will be available in October in Sears Business Machine Stores and the nationally known Computerland outlets. The processors will also be sold in IBM's retail outlets and through a special sales unit of the firm's Data Processing Division, according to C.B. Rodgers, vice-president and group executive of the firm's general business group.
It is also the first time IBM has offered a processor where virtually none of the operating software or applications were developed by IBM. The DOS operating system was developed for IBM by Microsoft, Inc., the developers of the primary programming language for the system, Microsoft Basic. A Pascal compiler is also available, according to IBM.
There are three accounting packages -- accounts receivable, accounts payable and general ledger -- all developed by Management Science America, Inc.'s Peachtree Software, Inc. -- and another IBM first -- Microsoft Adventure -- a Dungeons and Dragons-type computer game.
Apparently in a move to dredge up applications software for the processor, IBM has also gone into the third-party software business with the Personal Computer Software Publishing Department.
The publishing department will accept for review programs created by just about anyone, from the guy on the street to IBM programmers. The programs will be evaluated by IBM and, if approved, offered to IBM Personal Computer users with a royalty going to the developer.
One of the conditions of the publishing company is that the developer must be able to support and, if necessary, update his program. IBM's director, Entry Business Systems' P.D. Estridge, said a similar agreement has been reached with other third-party firms providing software for the Personal Computer.
System Features
The system operates on a standard 120V current and does not require any special cooling facilities. It is based on a 16-bit Intel Corp. 8088 microprocessor and can make use of a standard black-and-white or color television or, as in the case of the IBM press demonstration here last week, a wide-screen television.
The processor can communicate over asynchronous lines with a standard RS-232C adapter to access other processors, laboratory instruments and data bases like Dow Jones Co. Retrieval and Source Telecomputing Corp.'s The Source.
Throughout the DP division marketing arm, IBM is offering volume discounts of 5% for 20 to 49 orders, 10% for 49 to 150 processors and 15% for more than 150 orders. Discounts are also available to educational organizations, IBM said.
The processor will be manufactured in the firm's Boca Raton, Fla., assembly plant. However, the CRT portion of the processor is being manufactured in Taiwan by an unspecified vendor.
A basic system with 16K bytes of main memory attached to an audio tape player and television set costs approximately $1,565. A typical 64K byte system with a single diskette and display costs $3,005. An expanded system for business with full-color graphics capabilities (limited graphics capabilities are available on smaller systems), two diskette drives and a printer costs about $4,500. Systems come with both software and hardware operator's manuals.
Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
First published in Computerworld Aug. 17, 1981
NEW YORK -- The giant of the computer industry is thinking small.
IBM last week announced its smallest system to date, a personal computer. In addition, the firm announced an untraditional marketing agreement with Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Computerland as distributors of the system, and the firm proclaimed it is looking to buy programs from anyone who will listen to it.
Priced to compete with longtime personal computer vendors like Apple Computer, Inc., Radio Shack Corp. and Commodore, Inc., IBM's entry into the personal market, called the IBM Personal Computer, costs between $1,565 and roughly $2,100. It offers 16K- to 256K bytes of main memory, 40K bytes of read-only memory (ROM), up to 320K bytes of diskette storage and printing speeds of up to 80 char./sec.
IBM announced a DOS-oriented operating system for the processor and it also announced a contractual agreement with Digital Research, to provide the commonly used CP/M-86 operating system.
IBM has also contracted with Personal Software, Inc. and Information Unlimited Software, Inc. to provide the Visicalc problem-solving package and the Easywriter word processing package on the processor.
Like other personal computers, the IBM processor offers color graphics capabilities that provide users with a text system capable of displaying 256 characters in any of 16 foreground and eight background colors. It is also capable of displaying graphics in four different colors.
IBM's Personal Computer marks two major firsts for the firm. It is the first time IBM has developed a processor not exclusively aimed at a business audience and it is the first time IBM has made a serious attempt to sell its products outside its internal sales structure.
IBM said the personal computers will be available in October in Sears Business Machine Stores and the nationally known Computerland outlets. The processors will also be sold in IBM's retail outlets and through a special sales unit of the firm's Data Processing Division, according to C.B. Rodgers, vice-president and group executive of the firm's general business group.
It is also the first time IBM has offered a processor where virtually none of the operating software or applications were developed by IBM. The DOS operating system was developed for IBM by Microsoft, Inc., the developers of the primary programming language for the system, Microsoft Basic. A Pascal compiler is also available, according to IBM.
There are three accounting packages -- accounts receivable, accounts payable and general ledger -- all developed by Management Science America, Inc.'s Peachtree Software, Inc. -- and another IBM first -- Microsoft Adventure -- a Dungeons and Dragons-type computer game.
Apparently in a move to dredge up applications software for the processor, IBM has also gone into the third-party software business with the Personal Computer Software Publishing Department.
The publishing department will accept for review programs created by just about anyone, from the guy on the street to IBM programmers. The programs will be evaluated by IBM and, if approved, offered to IBM Personal Computer users with a royalty going to the developer.
One of the conditions of the publishing company is that the developer must be able to support and, if necessary, update his program. IBM's director, Entry Business Systems' P.D. Estridge, said a similar agreement has been reached with other third-party firms providing software for the Personal Computer.
System Features
The system operates on a standard 120V current and does not require any special cooling facilities. It is based on a 16-bit Intel Corp. 8088 microprocessor and can make use of a standard black-and-white or color television or, as in the case of the IBM press demonstration here last week, a wide-screen television.
The processor can communicate over asynchronous lines with a standard RS-232C adapter to access other processors, laboratory instruments and data bases like Dow Jones Co. Retrieval and Source Telecomputing Corp.'s The Source.
Throughout the DP division marketing arm, IBM is offering volume discounts of 5% for 20 to 49 orders, 10% for 49 to 150 processors and 15% for more than 150 orders. Discounts are also available to educational organizations, IBM said.
The processor will be manufactured in the firm's Boca Raton, Fla., assembly plant. However, the CRT portion of the processor is being manufactured in Taiwan by an unspecified vendor.
A basic system with 16K bytes of main memory attached to an audio tape player and television set costs approximately $1,565. A typical 64K byte system with a single diskette and display costs $3,005. An expanded system for business with full-color graphics capabilities (limited graphics capabilities are available on smaller systems), two diskette drives and a printer costs about $4,500. Systems come with both software and hardware operator's manuals.
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