Re: Wozniak vs Jobs

[regnirps@aol.com (Regnirps)]

Jeff Lemke <lemke@terra.cira.colostate.edu> wrote:

>Supertimer wrote:
>> 
>> Jeff Lemke <lemke@terra.cira.colostate.edu> wrote:
>> 
>> >In the mainstream business market, where the lion's share of money in
>> >computing was to be made in the '80's, the IBM PC's explosive lead was
>> >virtually unbeatable, even by 1983 when the IIe and the overpriced Lisa
>> >had been released.  I can't speak to the comparison of the
>> >sophistication of IBM PC's in accounting versus the Macs in desktop
>> >publishing, because I'm not a business accountant, and because it's
>> >really comparing apples and oranges (no fruit puns intended).
>> 
>> IBM PC really did break into business overnight because of its name,
>> but that did not guarantee the IBM PC a 95% market share.
>> 
>> Before the IBM PC, it was Apple that sold 95% of the computers and
>> that was the Apple II series to schools.  When IBM PC hit coporate
>> market, those Apple II did not disappear.  
>
>
>Perhaps 95% to schools, but certainly not overall.  There were a lot of
>other computer makers, Tandy being a major contender itself in the late
>70's and early '80's.  All those other makers made up more than 5%
>marketshare.

I am befuddled by your time line. Late 70's is pretty much Apple all by itself.
To say Tandy had any but a tiny and late presence seems strange to me. By
others, perhaps you mean Osborn and Kaypro and Ohio Scientific and such? These
were popular in the electronics magazines because they were easier to hack
hardware with (as in less sophisticated) than Apples, but they were hardly
players in the market and they came and went rapidly. The most important
influence of the others was the rapid demand for standards like CP/M which led
to the premature standardization in the PC business and eventually DOS. Without
the drive of Carl Helmers and Byte Magazine and Interface Age, a more leisurely
and intelligent trend towards standards might have dominated, to all out
benefit.

Charlie Springer