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> That was one of the key reasons that the IBM PC succeeded: it was easy to clone. Without that it's likely it would have been just another interesting footnote
by oarsinsync 5y ago
> That was one of the key reasons that the IBM PC succeeded: it was easy to clone. Without that it's likely it would have been just another interesting footnote in history. But because IBM didn't take the time to do everything custom and locked in others were able to enter the market and make things happen.
I’m reasonable sure IBM PCs were totally custom and locked down, and they got reverse engineered enabling “IBM Compatible” clones to spring up.
- klondike_ 5y agoThe IBM PC was the first computer IBM made that used entirely off the shelf chips except one: the BIOS The BIOS chip was just copied outright for the first clones, but that was ruled illegal in court so later compatibles reverse engineered the code and made their own.