Courtesy information page for Lumber Computer and Building Material Software users
IBM Personal Computer & IBM Clone
The first product to bear the designation IBM Personal Computer or IBM Clone was the IBM Personal Computer, introduced in August, 1981. IBM estimated that around 500,000 units would be sold over the lifetime of their machine. They sold 500,000 in just three months.
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New Vocabulary
After the introduction of that machine, hobbyists, engineers, and business people quickly adopted the term to refer to small desktop computers meant to be used by one person. The initials PC quickly took over as the predominant term, saving four syllables in every utterance.
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Early Years
In the first years of the PC, the term was non-denominational. It referred to any machine with certain defining characteristics, which we will discuss shortly. In fact, the term "personal computer" was in general use before IBM slapped it on its early desktop iron.
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Way of the Dinosaur
Many of the original PC manufacturers who originally existed have since gone the way of the dinosaur. Some such as Texas Instruments, Commodore, Amiga and Wang never adapted their software to the IBM Clone Dos capable format. Proprietary Operating Systems just never won the heart and soul of the average PC user.
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Specialization
The term "PC" has, over the years, taken a much more specialized application. It serves to distinguish a particular kind of computer design. Because that design currently happens to be the dominant one worldwide, many people use the term in its original sense. And that works in most polite conversation, unless you’re in a conversation with someone whose favorite computer does not follow the dominant design. When you refer to his hardware as a "PC" the polite part of the conversation is likely to quickly disappear as they disparage the PC and rue for the days that their favorites—be they Amiga or Macintosh—once parried for marketshare.
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IBM Standard
The specialized definition of a PC means a machine that’s compatible with the first IBM Personal Computer, that is a computer that uses a microprocessor that understands the same programs and languages as the one in the first PC (though is likely to understand more than just that and do a heckuva lot better job of it!) In fact, what we now call PCs were once IBM-compatible, because in those primeval years (roughly 1981 to 1987) the IBM design was the accepted industry standard which all manufacturers essentially copied. After 1987, IBM overplayed its role in defining the industry, and lost it position in marketplace. The term "IBM-compatible" fell into disuse. PC and, now rarely, PC-compatible have taken over.
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Industry Standards
Under this more limited definition, a PC is a machine with a design broadly based on the first IBM PC. Its microprocessor is made by Intel or, if made by another company, is designed to emulate an Intel microprocessor. The rest of the hardware follows designs set by industry standards discussed throughout the rest of this book.
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What Defines a PC
Like so much of the modern world, a modern personal computer is something that’s easy to recognize and difficult to define. In truth, the personal computer is not defined by its parts (because the same components are common across the entire range of computers from pocket calculators to super-computing vector processors) but by how it is used. Every computer has a central processing unit and memory, and the chips used by PCs are used by just about every size of machine. Most computers also have the same mass storage systems and similar display systems to those of the PC. Although you’ll find some variety in keyboards and connecting ports, at the signal level all have much in common, including the electrical components used to build them.
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Characteristics
But in operation, you use your PC in an entirely different manner from any other type of computer. The way you work and the way the PC works with you are the best definition of the PC. Among the many defining characteristics of the personal computer, you’ll find that the most important are interactivity, dedicated operation, programmability, connectivity, and accessibility. Each of these characteristics helps make the PC into the invaluable tool it has become, distinguishing it from computers that came before and an array of other devices with computer-like pretensions.
