At 05:46 PM 4/21/01 -0600, Neil wrote: > > another interesting bit of trivia is that when IBM built the first "PC", >for > > the first time they chose off the shelf parts instead of proprietary IBM > > stuff. Zilog was in the hunt for the Z80 processor, but they were late to > > develop one with the 16 bit bus, so Intel got the nod. If Zilog had won > > out, they would be the 800 pound gorilla! > >I think you mean the 68000. That was the original chip that IBM wanted to >have in the XT/PC machines, but Motorola wasn't interested in lowering >their prices and Intel was. > >Never did hear the Zilog spin on it. I was involved in getting the first quotes for the IBM PC. At the time (1979?) I was a technical consultant with IBM and had been teaching microprocessor/computer courses at Old Dominion University. I was asked to price a cost to IBM for a "state-of-the-art" off-the-shelf microcomputer system. The requirements were: 1. Use CP/M as operating system (this limited the choices to 80xx compatibles). 2. Run Visicalc. (This was the hot business product of its day as the first microcomputer spreadsheet program.) 3. Use Microsoft BASIC. I called Microsoft and got a quote of $25,000 for their BASIC and $50,000 for a priorietary BASIC, one-time license fees. I suggested the 8086, since the microcomputer world was moving to 16 bits at that time. In the end, they choose the 8088 for price. Microsoft was in a battle with Digital Research at that time over CBASIC, a compiled form of a structured BASIC, which was "eating their lunch" in the commercial market. Microsoft apparently balked at joining with their competitor, and said they wanted to supply the operating system as well, or wouldn't sell their BASIC to IBM. So Microsoft acquired the rights to a CP/M-clone for the 8086 from Seattle Computer Systems for $250k and resold the software to IBM as PC-DOS 1.0. Later they sued Seattle Computer Systems for infringement (they retained a right for self-use), which helped put them out of business. Digital Research ended up with 2nd prize: CP/M-86 was sold as an "extra" for the IBM PC for $200. Not many people bought it. A couple of years later, Gary Killdahl (president and owner of Digital Research and inventor of CP/M) committed suicide after his company went bankrupt. IBM intended to stay safely in the middle of the road. They wanted 80xx compatibility. The Z80 was in widespread use on microcomputers, but the 16-bit version was a couple of years away and not Intel-compatible. I doubt if it was ever considered seriously. Also Zilog was a very small company. I never heard mention of a 68000-based PC, although such an Apple-clone would have been a possibility. But CP/M was middle of the road where IBM wanted to be. Within a year or two after I sent in my report, the IBM PC was released. This shows how fast these things could happen. There may have multiple groups within IBM working on parts of this project. Interestingly, in 1980 I offered to create a PC from off-the-shelf parts for Burroughs Corporation (now part of UniSys) for $500k total cost. They turned this down, claiming they had their own product in the works. It didn't appear until two years later, cost $10k+ and was a flop. Although they "owned" the small business market in 1980 with their bookkeeping machines, within a few years they were forced completely from it due to the IBM PC and accounting software. Ditto for Litton. NCR (National Cash Register) did a little better, eventually being bought by ATT for their 8086-based PC system and then being closed down. ================================================================ Robert A. LaBudde, PhD, PAS, Dpl. ACAFS e-mail: ral@lcfltd.com Least Cost Formulations, Ltd. URL: http://lcfltd.com/ 824 Timberlake Drive Tel: 757-467-0954 Virginia Beach, VA 23464-3239 Fax: 757-467-2947 "Vere scire est per causas scire" ================================================================ -- http://www.piclist.com hint: To leave the PICList mailto:piclist-unsubscribe-request@mitvma.mit.edu