Who really invented the PC?

As one man pitches a crazy idea inside IBM, the wheels of destiny start turning for many.

Source:

Blue Magic: The People, Power, and Politics behind the IBM Personal Computer - Chposky, James; Leonsis, Ted

Credits:
Research and Writing: LowSpecAlex
Voice over: LowSpecAlex
Editing: LowSpecAlex
3D animation: Windy, Divye
Art: Maiku no Koe
Spanish Translation, Audio editing and QA: Henrique von Buren
Thumbnail design: Maiku no Koe
VA director and sourcing: Jesús Hernández/Dubbing Home
Special VA guest: ​⁠ @extrahistory @joescott

Social media:

Stock Footage from Getty

[michaelturner]

Parts of this overlap with one of my favorite made-for-TV movies, Pirates of Silicon Valley, which follows Gates and Jobs in their rivalries up to the mid-90s. I especially like the framing devices of each of their respective Steves (Ballmer and Woz) semi-narrating what's happening as a sort of greek chorus.

Specifically the negotiation scene with Gates and IBM is remarked upon by actor Ballmer as so full of chutzpah that it should be framed as a painting and taught in history books.

I don't think Gary Kildall of CP/M fame is mentioned at all in it though. And this is the first I've heard of him being difficult to work with, he seemed such an affable easygoing fellow on his appearances in The Computer Chronicles. I knew there was something that went on that cost CP/M the IBM deal but I never read too deep into specifics. Just that it had something to do with his wife and/or a plane.

[DanCreaMundos]

Oh, the irony. To prevent IBM from becoming a monopoly they turned Microsoft into one 😂

[michaelturner]

Can I say that I really appreciate the extra artwork made for these videos, it really adds to things and makes me actually want to watch instead of just listen (dealing with eye strain, getting old sucks, I advise against it).

Edit: I just noticed you credit the artist in the description! That makes it easier to say specifically thank you, Maiku no Koe!

[trichlorophenate]

Inventing computers without a computer has gotta be almost as difficult as making StackOverflow without StackOverflow...

[Ribula]

It really feels like you are making a anime about the history of computers.

[play_history]

There is a certain irony to the title of this video without mentioning the main hardware architect behind the PC: Lewis Eggebrecht. He's been written out of the official IBM history, but he was the guy who made the majority of the design decisions after moving out of IBM's Minneosta group to Florida.

The majority of information on him can be found from the 1984-09-18 issue of PC Magazine, with lots of corroboration about his role in the following years. It would be a great future video topic.

[souldrip]

I'm confused: why does this video begin with: "It's the middle of the '80s..." ?

-Bill Lowe met with the IBM Corporate Management Committee in July 1980.
-Apple Computers had their Wall Street IPO in December 1980.
-The IBM PC was released in August 1981.

(Perhaps LowSpecGamer meant to say, "It is the beginning of the '80s...")

[giselasilva]

Well isn't this a surprise!! Just yesterday I remember you because I wanted to see how to improve my "low spec rig"!! Good to have you back

[KlausWulfenbach]

Until 1:23 I never understood the reasoning behind IBM using completely off-the-shelf parts for their personal computer. Now it makes all too much sense. The reason why they didn't make their own components even though that's what Commodore had been doing for years and they had been doing for decades. They weren't stupid or shortsighted. Of course not. They were just impatient. And now kids these days don't even know what "IBM Compatible" means.

[cexeodus]

Ought to make a doc about the origins, development, and evolutions of Android. Its a story of a similar flavor of intrigue.

[doraexplora]

DOS and IBM wasn't the first home computer. Having lived through the computer boom and electronics. i remember building a Sinclair from scratch. It had a Motorola chip. Well before the 8080. You could run basic on it. You needed a small TV screen and Sinclair provided the converter. The issue was that if you turned it off, you lost everything and had to reprogram it all again. So Sinclair came up with a way of storing the programs on cassette tape and provided the interface. This made a huge difference to the experience. It was years before anything IBM came out with. Clones sprung up the moment IBM came up with the first DOS based computer. This was a game changer. These clones were quite cheap and had the MS DOS version on it and were totally usable. The rest is as per the story. This vid proves that Gates and Job never invented anything. They always bought someone else ideas and just repackaged it, and marketed it better. When I see people inferring that Jobs invented the computer or the iPod or the even the iPhone. I puke! The tech was always bought from the original inventor and just repackaged and marketed better. Why do you think the Windows hasn't changed that much since Win95? Because MS aren't inventors!

[manuelfernandez]

Qué alegría un nuevo video de LowSpecGamer. Llevaba unos días echando de menos uno y de repente... Sorpresa!

[DaoistYeashikAli]

7:43 Correction: It was named 86-QDOS. x86 Quick and Dirty Operating System

[ikeshrafter]

I could be mistaken, but are you the same guy who used to do guides on how to play modern games on below minimum hardware?

[zg-it]

The Gary kildall story has been recalled so many times it's pure fiction at this point. Watch the old episodes of computer Chronicles. He never went flying to skip the meeting. He actually flew from one meeting to another because he preferred flying planes as a hobbyist. The truth is he got backstabbed

[Vextrove]

I was looking for this channel, but couldn't find it if my life depended on it.
I glad it still exists and to see it show up in my subscription list

[creator-link]

Love the new format of the channel, love seeing the history of technology:)

[PyroX]

A bunch of people already pointed this out but the Gary Kildall story is based on industry rumors from the time but none of it is true. The only part of it that is true is Gary Kildall was out of town when IMB showed up unannounced demanding a bunch of stuff that only Gary could make a decision on.

[mukiex]

7:27 I got a momentary flashback to Bill and Ted’s excellent adventure with that line

[maksymilianzajac]

so i was looking for a low spec Enshrouded guide and found out you killed this channel! :) great job and keep up the amazing work on being another cog in the youtube machine