Top Ten Things Not to Do at the Introduction of the First IBM Personal Computer in 1981

~ John W. Howell
Photo by Yuheng Ouyang on Unsplash

 

August marks the anniversary of IBM’s introduction of the first personal computer in 1981. If you want to return to that time, take this list with you. It may save a mistake or even a tear in the time continuum. This post ran first on August 12, 2019

Top Ten Things Not to Do at the Introduction of the First IBM Personal Computer in 1981

10 At the intro of the IBM PC, do not laugh out loud at the 16 to 256 kB amount of memory being offered. If you do, at best someone will think you are laughing with delight. At worst, you’ll be put in a position of explaining what you believe to be so funny. (Just because your current laptop has a thousand times that memory, you need not be a snob, Isaias.)

9 At the intro of the IBM PC, do not tell Tiny the WWF champ that he needs to learn to keyboard. If you do, at best Tiny will think you mean someone else. At worst, Tiny will think you are mocking his two-fingered approach to typing. (The other worse part is Tiny just left his self-esteem support group where he was told he is a beautiful, perfect, big boy. I think you will have to deal with his feelings of rejection, Illias. It is going to hurt. I’m just sayin’)

8 At the intro of the IBM PC, do not ask if there are any discounts available on the $1,565.00 price tag. If you do, you’ll likely get a strange look. At worst, the engineers will go into a lot of detail about the components and how expensive everything is inside. (Now don’t you feel foolish, Ismael? Put that Best BUY coupon away. It is not helpful to tell them that you can get a PC priced at $141.00 in 1981 dollars. Might even get you run out of town.)

7 At the intro of the IBM PC, do not ask if you can play Pong on it. If you do, at best, more funny looks. At worst, one of the engineers will suddenly see you as a genius and won’t get away from you. (You may think this is a good thing, Izzy, but the guy hasn’t been out of his clothes for two weeks.)

6 At the intro of the IBM PC, do not use white-out on the screen to correct mistakes you make trying out a unit. If you do, at best the group will think you are cute. At worst, they’ll think you are a technology terrorist. (There are a couple of big guys moving your way, Iban. Might be a good idea to take your white-out and correction tape and head for the door.)

5 At the intro of the IBM PC, do not complain if you get a stripped-down version with no monitor for your $1565.00 ($4313 in 2018 dollars). If you do, you may be told to buy a more expensive model. At worst, the engineers will sit you down and explain that the PC was designed to be hooked to a TV monitor. ( So now you know, Ivo. You just plop that sucker down by your TV and plug it in the back. Well, assuming you have a connection on your TV. If not, come back and get the +$3,000 models. We’ll throw in a couple of floppy disk drives too. Don’t tell me you don’t know what floppy disks are?)

4 At the intro of the IBM PC, do not scoff at Charlie Chaplin’s character The Little Tramp as a spokesperson for the IBM PC. If you do, at best, the market will ignore you. At worst, the advertising folks will lock you in a room and make you watch an endless loop of Little Tramp commercials until you buy a PC. (Best just buy one in the first half-hour, Idal. Otherwise, your brain may melt.)

3 At the intro of the IBM PC, do not buy before you try. If you do, you can expect some inconvenience. At worst, you’ll be trying to save to drives that don’t exist and print to empty slots. (Maybe you should have tried it out first, Isham. Looks like you will need the more expensive one after all.)

2 At the intro of the IBM PC, do not ask if it is compatible with your iPhone. If you do, at best, no one in the room will know what an iPhone is. At worst, the security department will believe you asked the question because you are from a competitor. (Looks like it is going to be a fun ride out the front door, Izak. Try to land on something soft this time.)

1 At the intro of the IBM PC, do not ask if it comes in colors other than grey. If you do, at best the salespeople will think you are joking. At worst, the salespeople will think you are a corporate spy for Apple. (Looks like they are ready for this kind of thing, Issa. Here comes the sheriff with a couple of deputies. Might be a good time to hit the way back button on that cell phone.”

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Published by John W. Howell

I have been working in business for over forty years and now have the time to work in special areas of interest. My passion has always been to create compelling stories of fiction. I have authored six novels and am working on my Seventh. The first novel is still in manuscript form and being utilized as a door stop in the laundry room. The second is a contemporary fiction novel of 89,000 words and is complete and I am currently seeking a publisher. I also write poetry but have not had the guts to share any with anyone. The one time I read a piece to a person their only comment was, “it doesn’t rhyme.” I will continue to write and hopefully my blog, Fiction Favorites at www.johnwhowell.com will provide some entertainment and an interesting thought or two. I live in the Austin area with my wife Molly and an assortment of loving pets.

76 thoughts on “Top Ten Things Not to Do at the Introduction of the First IBM Personal Computer in 1981”

  2. I really fancied one of those when they came out. At the time, I was working on a DEC PDP-11/03 and my own machine was a brand-new Epson HX-20. It’s staggering to see how much progress has been made in computing capability in 45 years and how little in areas that matter.

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  5. My husband worked for Digital Equipment Company (DEC) where the founder, Ken Olsen, (in)famously stated that no one would want a home computer. And they could not even call them computers–they were called mini-processors. DEC was later bought by Compaq. Not very forward thinking for old Ken.

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  7. I had one of those! I was the only person in my department to have a persona computer! And word processing programs were not common ( a student wrote one for me!) and the printer used paper that had the holes in the sides. Of course the department secretaries took those pages and types them on decent paper with all the usual errors!

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  10. I owned computers that resemble that set up. Are you sure this is a computer of that era? Looks newer than the original set up to me. I didn’t hsve that one but did get them by the time they had memory.

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  11. I wonder what the creators of this original IBM would think of today’s computers!

    Hard to believe how far we have come in a rather short amount of time. And now? How to even live without one?

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  17. And we thought the loading speed of these was fast in those days. It’s still hard to wrap my brain around these only being around 45 years ago. The computer and internet are some of the greatest inventions in my lifetime.

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  18. All ten were amusing. Back then I was in high school and we had so called min computers, which contrary to the name were really large and located in a different building. We had terminals. At the time I had never heard of personal computers. I mean where in your house would you fit a two ton machine.

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  20. Very clever. I thought Joey was a rich kid living in his parents basement as so many do these days. Just kidding but sadly I could have been right.

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  21. It’s crazy to think that was 45 years ago!

    And the prices were also crazy. These guys and gals didn’t know what they didn’t know . . yet. But let’s be honest, they were paving the road for the future and were greeted with a lot of yawning.

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  24. Oh, what memories! My friends used to have 386… It was almost a miracle for Russia on 90s. Let’s hope that our virtual insanity will be over soon, and we shall be back in time and in technologies. It was yet human age.🍤🍤🍤🍻

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