What Makes a PC? Thoughts on Computing Platforms, Standards, and Compatibility

Abstract

Early microcomputing culture was characterized by a proliferation of other machine-oriented platforms, often aimed at home users. Contemporaneously with Apple, the established electronics firms Commodore and Tandy Radio Shack introduced formulations of the personal computer that long endured, sustained by enthusiastic user communities and vigorous software development cultures. This culture is often characterized as a Babel of incompatible platforms that the IBM PC, offering all the advantages of a consensus standard, rapidly swept out of existence. The actual eclipse of these platforms in international context awaits serious investigation.