The encyclopedia · Software & IT · Strategic decision · 1981–1984
IBM's open PC architecture set the standard, and clones took it over.
IBM built its PC from off-the-shelf parts and let Microsoft keep the OS rights, so the machine became the industry standard that others could clone.
IBM
the move
On 12 August 1981, IBM launched its personal computer from the Waldorf Astoria. Rather than build its own chips and operating system as it did elsewhere, the Boca Raton team led by Bill Lowe bought an Intel processor, licensed DOS from the small firm Microsoft, and used off-the-shelf components.
The machine sold wildly beyond forecasts, pulling the whole industry toward it. Because the architecture was open and the components were standard, other companies such as Compaq could build compatible clones, and software developers wrote for DOS because that was where the users were.
That openness was the key to making the PC the standard: the ecosystem grew faster than anything IBM could control. But it also meant IBM could not own the standard it created, and it steadily lost share to compatibles that were cheaper or faster.
why it works
- Buying parts and software got the PC to market fast, when the market was moving too quickly for IBM's normal process.
- Microsoft kept the rights to DOS, so it could sell the operating system to any compatible maker.
- An open architecture meant others could replicate the machine, expanding the base of software and add-in cards.
- Developers wrote for the biggest base, and the biggest base became the IBM-compatible standard.
what transfers
An open architecture can win the standard while losing the owner's market: settling for ordinary parts and third-party software trades control of the ecosystem for rapid adoption.
what came after
The IBM PC helped make the personal computer a mainstream business and set x86 and DOS as the industry standard, but IBM lost control of that standard to clones and to Microsoft. IBM sold its PC business to Lenovo in 2005.
references
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