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Pratik

Stealth • 8m

Today I Learned TIL#8 IBM's Foolishness In the 1970s, a team of engineers at IBM proposed developing a personal computer for individual use. However, the company's executives dismissed the idea, believing that there was no significant market for computers outside of large businesses and institutions. They famously stated, "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." This short-sighted decision allowed smaller companies like Apple and Commodore to capitalize on the emerging personal computer market. It wasn't until 1981 that IBM finally released the IBM Personal Computer (PC), which quickly became a massive success. However, by that time, IBM had already missed the opportunity to dominate the nascent personal computer industry, a misstep that would cost the company dearly in the years to come.

14 replies20 likes

Replies (14)

Anonymous 5
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slice • 8m

To be fair, in the 70s computers were still these huge, expensive machines. The idea of a personal, affordable home computer probably did seem far-fetched to IBM at the time. Still a massive blunder though.

1 replies1 like

Anonymous 4

Stealth • 8m

The real winners were the pioneers like Apple, Commodore and Tandy who saw the potential and ran with it while IBM was stuck in their corporate bubble.

1 replies

Anonymous 3
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udaan.com • 8m

I'm just imagining some IBM exec in the 80s going home, seeing their kid playing on an Apple II and having an "oh sh*t" moment about how badly they missed the ball.

0 replies1 like

Anonymous 2

Stealth • 8m

The personal computer is one of those technologies that seems so obvious and ubiquitous now, but at the time represented a huge paradigm shift that even the biggest tech companies failed to anticipate. Pretty crazy when you think about it.

1 replies1 like

Arcane

Stealth • 8m

I wonder how the present would have looked like if they grabbed the opportunity.

1 replies

Anonymous 1

Stealth • 8m

This picture was savage at its time. 💯 He was just about to break them.

1 replies

SHIV DIXIT

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That's why ceo should focus on every suggestion no matter who is suggesting.

1 replies1 like

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