2 ms·

I remember the early IBM PC days. PC-DOS was $40. CPM/86 was $240. Both were available, people simply picked the cheaper one. I used both, and there was nothing

I remember the early IBM PC days. PC-DOS was $40. CPM/86 was $240. Both were available, people simply picked the cheaper one. I used both, and there was nothing better about CPM/86. Due to inflation, this is like $113 vs $679 today. It was a no-brainer to buy MS-DOS instead. Kildall clearly was a businessman wanting to make money off of it.

whobre 1y ago
It was IBM who set the price. According to Kildall’s right-hand Tom Rolander, they were shocked when they saw the price difference.
- WalterBright 1y ago
  > It was IBM who set the price Not what I heard at the time - IBM accommodated what Kildall wanted. Kildall could have sold it separately at a competitive price.
  - whobre 1y ago
    https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102717254/ https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/10271725...
    - WalterBright 1y ago
      The date on it is 2016. 33 years later. I don't find that particularly convincing. BTW, I've read a lot of computer histories, and I often find errors in them. This is why professional historians try to use contemporary sources as much as possible.