DOCUMENTARY: Why and How IBM ended up creating the PC (and ended up choosing the 8088 CPU)
Channel: Al's Geek Lab
Date: 2020-02-02

#IBM released the IBM PC 5150 in 1981. Internally, IBM went through massive hurdles to get a personal computer to the market to compete with the other microcomputers of the time. This documentary shows all of the happenings organisationally as well as the trade-offs and decisions that led up to IBM choosing the sluggish 8088 CPU.

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Some of the main reference material:

BYTE Magazine, September 1990: https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1990-09/1990_09_BYTE_15-09_15th_Anniversary_Summit#page/n451/mode/2up
"Bill Gates, Microsoft and the IBM Personal Computer" - Infoworld Newsweekly, August 23rd 1982:  https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=VDAEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA19&pg=PA22&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=true
"Microsoft Announces 8086 Basic" - The Intelligent Machines Journal, Summer 1979: https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=FT4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA10&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
IBM Exhibits: https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/pc25/pc25_birth.html

TOC:
0:00 Opening Credits
0:23 Introduction
1:08 The Rise of IBM
3:01 The Microcomputer revolution
5:50 IBM play catchup
7:23 Off the shelf components
10:00 Choosing the CPU for the IBM PC
11:52 MOS 6502 CPU
12:54 Zilog Z80 CPU
13:53 Other contenders
14:50 16-bit & the need for memory capacity
15:07 Texas Instruments TMS-9900 CPU
16:09 Motorola 68000 CPU
17:37 Intel 8086 CPU
19:21 Intel 8088 CPU - The PC's CPU
20:31 CP/M operating system
21:21 Why the weaker 8088?
21:35 Reason 1: Cost
23:23 Reason 2: Availability
24:04 Reason 3: R&D time
25:56 Reuse of the Intel 8085 compatability
27:58 Reason 4: Outside influence
30:11 Reason 5: Software availability
31:33 The first PC (1981)
33:50 Conclusion

#retrocomputing #vintagecomputing #ibm