Thursday, August 11, 2011

How IBM's 5150 PC shaped the computer industry | Business Tech - CNET News

Check the article link for more historical details and a PC launch video

Most people in the Western world walk around with a powerful computer in their pocket or purse, otherwise known as a smartphone. It's not unusual to see someone clutching a legal pad-size gadget on airplane flights, such as aniPad, to read books. It's nearly impossible to walk into a coffee shop without finding someone pecking away at a trim notebook computer, checking e-mail and surfing the Web.

One of the original marketing photos for the IBM 5150, the landmark personal computer that ushered in the PC revolution

(Credit: IBM)

The lineage of all those devices, in one way or another, flows directly back to a press conference some 30 years ago tomorrow. On August 12, 1981, IBM rented out a ballroom at the elegant Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York and introduced its landmark 5150 personal computer.

How IBM's 5150 PC shaped the computer industry | Business Tech - CNET News

No comments: