Re: The apple 2, the PC, and the clones

[mjmahon@aol.com (Michael J. Mahon)]

Roy replied:

>IBM did create the PC standard, as Apple created the II standard. 
>Bruce's statement is nonsense. Who created the PC slots? Who wrote the 
>PC BIOS? Who created a machine that first used the "off the shelf" chips 
>in exactly the way the PC did? Yeah, IBM. All the early so-called 
>"compatibles" (some of which weren't very, and the first to truly hold 
>that title was the first "clone" - Compaq) tried to copy the PC design 
>that IBM created.

Yes, they created the first version.  But the "PC standard" is not
a constant--it has evolved very substantially in the last two decades.
And assuredly, IBM did not create the PC as we know it today.

IBM tried to change the PC bus to the Microchannel architecture
and the already-teeming clone industry, led by Compaq, headed
them off at the pass.  (Of course, IBM helped by imposing a license
fee on the use of the new bus.)

Compaq and a few others then led the charge to an open (unlicensed)
bus, the EISA bus, which, though a reasonably robust design, was
more costly than the market could justify except at the high (read,
low-volume) end.  Ultimately, the 16-bit ISA bus prevailed in "phase 2"
of the PC bus wars.

More recently, Intel and Microsoft have led the PC hardware
standardization effort--with PCI (in its various bandwidth flavors),
AGP, USB, and beyond.  IBM has not been a leading player in
PC definition since the AT.  You may recall that Compaq was
the first vendor to offer a 386-based PC, as well.

So, sure, IBM invented the PC, the XT, and the AT, but since
then, the invention has been elsewhere.

-michael

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