History Series: IBM PC
History of the IBM PC: 42 Years Ago
Why It Was So Important
Forty-two years ago, the IBM PC was released.
On August 12, 1981, IBM announced its first “personal computer,” though it had previously been famous for its IBM System/370 mainframe computer. I operated one of these mainframes in a raised-floor data center in the early ’80s.
The PC was officially called the IBM Model 5150 and sported a 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 microprocessor. It had been in development for a year in a secret “skunkworks” lab in Boca Raton, FL, under the direction of Bill Lowe.
It cost $1,565 and targeted consumers and professional users, especially students (who could afford it) and business users. In today’s dollars, it would have cost $4,455.
Back in the day, I watched someone who knew how to use a VisiCalc spreadsheet build a pricing forecast for me on the “green screen.” His fingers flew over the keyboard. It was amazing.
Did it catch on?
The PC exceeded IBM’s expectations by over 800%!
IBM was shipping 40,000 PCs a month, which was a lot then, with over half going into homes. IBM licensed the character of Charlie Chaplin‘s “The Little Tramp” for their advertising campaign.
