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History of video games/Platforms/IBM Personal Computer

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  • An IBM 5150 Personal Computer.
    An IBM 5150 Personal Computer.

History

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Development

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The IBM 5100 of 1975 was the first minicomputer made by IBM.[1] APL models of the 5100 could essentially emulate a IBM System 360 mainframe.[1]

The accelerate development the IBM PC was developed in the span of 12 months by extensively using components made by other companies.[2]

Launch

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A press release by IBM in late August 1981 touts the capabilities of the IBM 5150, including a brief mention that the system can be used to easily play video games.[3]

The IBM 5150 was released in September of 1981 at a base cost of around $1,565, a home use setup costing around $3005, and a business system costing around $4,500.[4][3] Because the only thing IBM actually made for the IBM PC was the BIOS, clones of the system existed within a year, though were quickly stopped by legal action.[5] Compaq made a clone with a legally engineered compatible BIOS, paving the way for other clones to create the modern PC platform.[6][7]

Technology

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There are many iterations of the IBM Personal Computer. This section covers the IBM 5150 model.

An 16-bit x86 architecture Intel 8088 CPU clocked at 4.77 megahertz powers the IBM 5150.[4] The IBM 5150 came with 16 kilobytes of RAM standard, and could be configured with up to 256 kilobytes of RAM.[8] The IBM 5150 shipped with 40 kilobytes of ROM.[8]

The only custom part was the BIOS chip. As mentioned earlier, once that was reverse engineered using clean room techniques, many legal clone machines were brought to the market.[9] These clones were often cheaper or sported features the official IBM PC models lacked.[10]

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IBM 5150

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  •  
    An IBM PCjr
  •  
    An IBM PC XT
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    The IBM 5100, a technologically distinct and far less popular predecessor to the IBM PC.
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    An IBM Personal System/1.
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    An IBM Personal System/2 mouse.

Compaq Portable

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Ad-Lib sound output

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- An example music file similar to what would run on real Ad-Lib hardware. Note that the IBM PC did not originally ship with this hardware.

References

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Wikipedia has related information at IBM Personal Computer

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: IBM PC

  1. ↑ a b "IBM 5100 computer". oldcomputers.net. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  2. ↑ "IBM Archives: The birth of the IBM PC". www.ibm.com. 23 January 2003. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  3. ↑ a b "IBM Archives: Announcement press release". www.ibm.com. 23 January 2003. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  4. ↑ a b "IBM 5150 Personal Computer". oldcomputers.net. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  5. ↑ "Send in the Clones - CHM Revolution". www.computerhistory.org. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  6. ↑ "Tales from 80s Tech: How Compaq's Clone Computers Skirted IBM's IP and Gave Rise to EISA - News". www.allaboutcircuits.com. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  7. ↑ "The IBM Compatible or Clone - History of the Progression of Computer Technology - Electronic Tutorials and Circuits". www.hobbyprojects.com. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  8. ↑ a b "IBM Archives: Product fact sheet". www.ibm.com. 23 January 2003. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  9. ↑ "Send in the Clones - CHM Revolution". www.computerhistory.org. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  10. ↑ Haigh, Thomas. "The IBM PC: From Beige Box to Industry Standard". cacm.acm.org. Retrieved 1 March 2021.


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