The Modern PC Turns 30
Posted in: Apple, desktops, Mac, Microsoft, PC, Today's Chili, Windows
The revolutionary IBM 5150 landed 30 years ago today. It wasn’t the first device of its kind; Xerox PARC already had the Alto “home computer,” for example. But the success of IBM personal computers, particularly the 5150, was what would ultimately transform people’s opinions of computers and spur their adoption.
It would be difficult to overstate the role of the 5150. The PC grew so important and so influential in the years following its arrival that Time chose silicon over carbon in 1983 when it named the computer ”Machine of the Year”.
Today, we celebrate the IBM 5150 and nine other major milestones that helped the personal computer achieve its invaluable, and ubiquitous, place in society.
1981: The IBM 5150 Is Born
IBM launched the 5150 PC on Aug. 12, 1981.
It wasn’t much by today’s standards, or even yesterday’s. The 5150 featured a 4.77 MHz 8-to-16 bit Intel 8088 processor. It was less powerful than other processors available from Intel and Motorola, but those were thought to be “too powerful” for a PC. IBM also gave the 5150 a full 64 kilobytes of RAM — expandable to whopping 256 kB — one or two floppy drives (your choice) and a monochromatic display.
The 5150 was developed in less than a year by a team of 12 led by Don Estridge. The project was given the codename “Project Chess” — which we mention only because it sounds so cool — and built using off-the-shelf components.
Depending on how you configured your 5150, you’d shell out anywhere from $1,565 to $6,000 for one. That comes to $4,000 to $15,000 in today’s dollars. The success of the 5150 made the IBM PC the industry standard, and before long a whole bunch of “IBM compatibles” and clones jumped into the burgeoning PC market.
