![]() One switch indicated whether you had a monochrome or color card installed. The system was configured by setting up a couple of sets of dip switches on the motherboard. The PC also didn't have any sort of BIOS configuration utility. There was no colon and there was no C> because the original PC wouldn't support hard drives or sub directories. On boot DOS would ask for the date and then drop you to an A> prompt. It was just a bridge version until 1.10 could be shipped with the fix and some new features. IBM never officially released that version, however. It was, however, easy to learn and starting from 1.0 meant that I only needed to learn a bit of new stuff with each iteration.ĭOS 1.0 did have a nasty math bug, though, that was fixed by a patch - version 1.05. Perhaps my favorite aspect of this original IBM PC is the fact that I still have my DOS 1.0 manual and disk with it.ĭOS 1 was such a crude and simple operating system as compared to later versions or even CP/M. The card above is one of several I collected from local computer stores while waiting for my PC and it is one of the few advertising items that didn't feature Charlie Chaplin whose visage IBM licensed to represent their machine. IBM did an all-out media blitz with the introduction of the PC. I eventually got a black and white composite monitor so I could see 80 columns and a Quadram Quadboard that allowed me to expand the PC to nearer its 544K limit. It had a single disk drive and 64K of RAM with a CGA card to be hooked into my TV set. My first PC was purchased by my father and cost nearly $2,800. Once you added a video adapter, some RAM and a disk drive or two you could easily climb to double that price. IBM sold the original PCs for around $1,600, but that was just an advertising price for the 16K system unit with a keyboard. This is a standard Tandon 5.25" disk drive except for that IBM logo. That didn't stop them from stamping them with their name and logo, though. IBM made the PC with as many off-the-shelf parts as possible. IBM did everything they could to sell the ideas of "professional" and "sturdy" with their machines and they succeeded without question. The IBM PC Keyboard was a very sturdy, well designed 83 key model that had far better key placement and a better feel than any other low-cost computer of its day. The three manuals to the right are all 1.0 versions, including DOS 1.0 with the original DOS disk. The other PC in my collection is a later model with a Monochrome card and an IBM 5151 Monochrome monitor.īoth of my PCs have all of their original manuals, as shown here. I also have the IBM PC Technical Reference and IBM PC Maintenance and Service manuals. I have lots of original software from IBM and other sources including CP/M-86, VisiCalc, PFS:Write and much of the original IBM library of games and educational software including the BASIC Primer, Typing Tutor, Adventure and the "Microsoft Decathlon." The system has a full suite of original IBM documentation including the 1.0 versions of DOS, BASIC and the IBM PC Guide to Operations. It normally has a color graphics adaptor (CGA) and an IBM 5153 Color Monitor as well as a multi-function card and some other accessories although the Monochrome monitor (IBM 5151) and IBM Monochrome/Printer Adapter card are probably more correct for the machine. This is an original PC variant with a 64K motherboard (as opposed to the later 256K motherboards) and version 1.0 ROMs. The PC pictured here is one of two in my collection. ![]() ![]() The use of Microsoft's product on this machine helped catapult an already successful company into its current dominant position. This product was licensed from Microsoft after the IBM development team were unable to secure a license for CP/M. One significant reason for the rapid development cycle was the use of "off the shelf" parts for things like disk drives, processors, memory and the like.Īnother "off the shelf" component used on the PC was IBM's Operating System software - PC DOS. The PC was developed in an astoundingly short time (under 1 year) by a "skunkworks" project at IBM's Boca Raton Florida facility. IBM introduced its Personal Computer to much fanfare on August 12th, 1981.
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