Computer History page 9
By the end of 1981, IBM was building the world's most popular personal computer--a fact that did not go unnoticed by other computer manufacturers.
In February of 1982, Rod Canion, Jim Harris, and Bill Murto left Texas Instruments to form the Compaq Computer Corporation. The team spent over one million dollars to build an IBM-compatible personal computer--a machine that was functionally identical to the IBM PC, but did not violate any IBM patents or copyrights.
Compaq's first computer was a portable model, introduced in November of 1982. Even though the machine was the size of a large suitcase, it packed all the power of IBM's desktop model. Since IBM had nothing comparable, the machine was an instant success. Business travelers snapped up copies of the Compaq portable as fast as Canion and company could produce them.
In 1983, Compaq introduced a desktop computer that did everything the IBM PC could do, but ran at a slightly higher speed. The Compaq also cost roughly $200 less than an equivalent IBM model. Cost-conscious corporate buyers appreciated the price break, and large companies began buying Compaqs by the truckload. Compaq soon became the number 2 personal computer maker in the land--right behind IBM. Compaq was named to the Fortune 500 within a few short months.
The IBM-Compaq juggernaut proved unstoppable. The more computers IBM and Compaq sold, the more difficult it became for the other computer manufacturers. Any work done on an a non-compatible computer could not easily be transferred to an IBM and vice-versa, so buyers began to shun machines that did not conform to the IBM standard. Likewise, talented programmers and peripheral manufacturers began to abandon other computer platforms in favor of the hot new IBM-compatible market.
In order to survive, the other computer manufacturers felt compelled to step in line. Hewlett-Packard, Radio Shack, Kaypro, Leading Edge, Acer and dozens of other PC makers discontinued their proprietary, CP/M based machines and began selling IBM-compatible computers. Bit by bit, IBM's market share was getting nibbled away.
The stampede to produce machines that were IBM-compatible produced two big winners: Intel and Microsoft. Both companies were flooded with orders from companies seeking to use the same microprocessor and operating system that IBM was using. Before long, Microsoft's MS-DOS was grossing 200 million dollars a month--not a bad return on a $50,000 investment!
Regardless of the success Microsoft was enjoying, Bill Gates couldn't sit still. He had seen the Xerox Altos machine at PARC, and had worked closely with Steve Jobs' Macintosh team. Gates understood the potential of the graphical user interface (GUI), and wanted to find a way to incorporate it into his operating system.
In 1985, one year after the Macintosh was released, Microsoft unveiled a product called Windows 1.0. The program could provide any IBM-compatible computer with all the benefits of the graphical user interface. Unfortunately, the first version of Windows was slow and unstable. The Macintosh GUI was clearly superior, and Microsoft found relatively few buyers for their product.
But Microsoft refused to give up. Windows was upgraded repeatedly, and each new version was slightly better than its predecessor. Over the next half-decade, version 2.0 was released, then version 3.0, which was followed quickly by version 3.1. In order to spur sales, Microsoft provided their MS-DOS customers with financial incentives to pre-install Windows on their machines. Word of Windows' convenience and ease of use began to spread. It wasn't long before large numbers of IBM-compatible users rushed to their computer stores, demanding copies of Microsoft's hot new product.
After several years of skyrocketing sales, Microsoft made several improvements to Windows, releasing a new version in 1995. Windows 95, as it was called, was an instant success. Within a few short months, tens of millions of copies of the $89 product were sold. Windows was upgraded a sixth time in 1998, and Microsoft plans to release Windows 2000, an even more powerful and sophisticated version of Windows, this year.
As Windows improved, the competition between IBM-compatible computer makers grew fierce. To increase market share, computer makers were forced to slash prices. Before long, it became possible to pick up a Windows-powered, IBM-compatible computer for less than half of what a comparably equipped Apple Macintosh might cost. As a result, Apple's sales started to slump. Apple tried to stop Microsoft with a lawsuit, claiming that Microsoft had swiped the Macintosh "look and feel." However, Microsoft was able to point to other influences, including the abandoned Xerox Alto computer, and Apple's case went nowhere.
By 1997, Microsoft's Windows operating system was running on 90% of the world's computers, but it wouldn't run on Apple's Macintosh. Apple was reeling. The company was consistently losing hundreds of millions of dollars each quarter. Massive layoffs ensued, and Apple was forced to drop its wholesale computer prices almost below cost. Presidents and CEOs came and went. Many in the computer industry began to worry if the pioneering computer maker would survive.
To the delight of the Apple faithful, Steve Jobs reappeared. Armed with a cash infusion from none other than Microsoft's Bill Gates, Jobs temporarily reassumed control of his ailing company. Jobs understood that new computer users were both frustrated and intimidated by the increasing complexity of both the IBM-compatible and his company's Macintosh computers. He knew that a large segment of the computer-buying public craved a machine that was as uncomplicated and trouble-free as a blender or a television.
Amid much fanfare, Jobs introduced a sleek, new, Internet-ready machine that he called the iMac. The iMac is about as uncomplicated as a computer can get--you plug it in, turn it on, and it works! Although it lacked some of the power and capabilities of comparably-priced IBM-compatible machines, the iMac became, briefly, the nation's best-selling new computer.
Windows currently remains the dominant high-end computer operating system. Although Jobs' company has yet to make a significant dent in the sales of Windows-powered machines, Apple Computer has enjoyed renewed momentum and several consecutive quarters of profitability since the celebrated return of its founder.
Babbage and Lovelace could never have imagined computers with the power and sophistication we now take for granted. But their ideas helped make the modern personal computer possible. Although Babbage and Lovelace were themselves unable to transform their vision into reality, the computers we use today all bear the unmistakable fingerprints of the cantankerous mathematician and his literate partner.
