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Living History: Retracing the Evolution of the PC and PC Magazine
What helped the IBM standard stay on top was the innovative software development that rallied around it. Perhaps the most important early application for the PC was Lotus 1-2-3, the first in a series of integrated software packages that defined the industry. Combining a spreadsheet with graphics, 1-2-3 was more powerful than VisiCalc, the old standard, which was hobbled by a disagreement among VisiCalc's authors and publisher about new versions. Lotus 1-2-3 became the killer application for the IBM PC, just as VisiCalc had for the Apple II.
On Lotus's heels was a variety of other new IBM-compatible programs, such as word processors MultiMate and WordPerfect, and programs that made the leap from other platforms, such as Ashton-Tate's dBASE II.
On the hardware side, IBM gained even more attention with the introduction of the IBM PC-XT. At a list price of $4,995, it included 128K of RAM, a 10MB hard drive, a double-sided floppy disk drive, a serial port, and DOS 2.0.
Competitors finally conceded to the DOS standard and began offering compatible machines that were like the IBM PC, "only better." The DEC Rainbow offered compatibility not only with the 8088 but also with Z80 software. The AT&T 6300 and later the Texas Instruments Professional offered better graphics than the IBM PC.
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But compatibility didn't come easily, as many computer companies soon learned, and they didn't survive. They simply couldn't run all the software that was written specifically for IBM hardware. The most popular applications, such as Lotus 1-2-3, MultiPlan, SuperCalc, and WordStar, were DOS applications but often were written to circumvent DOS and address the hardware directly so they could run faster. Many non-IBM PCs with differing hardware had trouble running these programs. And the burst of generic DOS programs being written didn't satisfy most users. They wanted real IBM compatibility: a guarantee that they would have a variety of software to choose from.
Despite the many failures among the new machines in 1983, one made significant strides in compatibility: the Compaq Portable. At a list price of $2,995, this AC-only machine included just one double-sided floppy disk drive (a second drive cost $595 more.) The Compaq Portable wasn't the first IBM-compatible or the first portable (Osborne Computer had achieved that in the CP/M world long before). It wasn't even the first compatible portable; other companies such as Colby, Columbia Data Systems, and Dynalogic had models that preceded it. But the Compaq unit gained a reputation as the most compatible of the new machines, and its success showed there was a market for portable versions of IBM-compatible systems, even though it weighed a hefty 28 pounds.
As early computer networks began to emerge, it became apparent that computers needed to work together. Thousands of people were using CompuServe and The Source to communicate, and e-mail and local area networks (LANs) were beginning to appear.
The typical PC computer of the day, however, was still a standalone computer. As we all know, it would be a while before e-mail and networking, especially Ethernet, would truly catch on.
