Introducing the IBM PC

Today is an important anniversary for those of us who rely on our own portable computers daily to do our job tasks or complete our homework or even to write our blog posts. On August 12, 1981, IBM Personal Computer was first released.



What would we do without our handy PCs? My little Vaio TR3A is with me in bed every night in case I awake and decide to write. How spoiled I am. Thank you IBM for starting this great PC frenzie.

But wait. In 1980. I bought my boys a Commodore Vic 20 (named because the screen could accommodate 20 characters!) so they could enter the computer age. That was a small computer, a keyboard really, relying on a portable TV for a monitor. We certainly considered it our personal computer. But was that the first PC? About that time I was lucky enough to get my own Compaq PC at work. It was very heavy as I lugged it through airports so I could show the clients our great designs on the minuscule screen.

I have just gone through some of my PC history. But what was the first PC? Look at the Blinkenlights Archaeological Institute's personal computer milestones. You might be as surprised as I was.

technorati tags: personalcomputer, ibmpc, pchistory, vickisblog, compaq, commodore