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The great thing about the original IBM PC (and the XT) was the wealth of documentation you got with it (I never had an AT). I don't remember seeing the docs des
by zabzonk 5y ago
The great thing about the original IBM PC (and the XT) was the wealth of documentation you got with it (I never had an AT). I don't remember seeing the docs described in the OP, but it really was good. I had an XT, with a mono monitor on my desk, and I learned so much about the 8086, MSDOS and other things on that box.
But all IBM documentation (for mainframes, peripherals and such) was really brilliant. And their hardware was great, from big boxes to little ones. I've never really understood how they got such a bad reputation.
- kadoban 5y ago> I've never really understood how they got such a bad reputation. Mostly for their business practices. It seems like every ~generation in tech there's at least one big company doing shady abuses of their monopoly and pushing against anti-trust as hard as they can. IBM did it for a while, 60s and 70s maybe, Microsoft was next, Google and Apple after that? Usually the tech isn't the issue, it's how the companies throw their weight around.
- zabzonk 5y agoUnderstood, and I mostly agree. My favourite story about IBM malpractices was how they upgraded one of their printers. The technician doing the upgrade ushered all client staff out of the machine room. He then moved a rubber band from one pulley onto another. But on the other hand, they did produce some really good kit and software, which if you are a programmer is really what you want. And people like DEC were hardly adverse to doing similar stuff.
- kadoban 5y ago> He then moved a rubber band from one pulley onto another. Hah, that's a good one. > But on the other hand, they did produce some really good kit and software [...] Yeah, agreed (though really they did all of their best work well before my time, so I only know ~some of the history).