The reason was that IBM looked on their PC as an "entry system", a silly, unimportant introduction to their primary business, mainframes. It's important to realize that IBM didn't see the potential of personal computers -- they thought they would be another passing fad like quadraphonic sound. So they slapped together a really minimal computer, nothing at all remarkable, only hoping to attract people to their main business. They just had no idea what was going to happen, or how the world would look on their PC, given that they were IBM.
That's the real reason why older desktop machines are so crappy. That's the reason why IBM wasn't able to compete against their own imitators. And IBM's contemptuous attitude toward their own PC is one of the main reasons Apple was able to introduce the Macintosh to an adoring public. It really was spectacularly better than the original IBM PC.
That's the real reason why older desktop machines are so crappy. That's the reason why IBM wasn't able to compete against their own imitators. And IBM's contemptuous attitude toward their own PC is one of the main reasons Apple was able to introduce the Macintosh to an adoring public. It really was spectacularly better than the original IBM PC.