IBM Model 5150 PC with no outer cover
physical object
Identifier
2025.13.25Description
IBM’s success came in the form of the IBM PC Model 5150, introduced in early 1981. It was a very small machine that could not only process information faster than those ponderous mainframes of the 1960s but also be hooked up to a home TV set, process text and could store more words than a huge cookbook -- all for a price tag of less than US$1,600 (US$4800 today). It was based on a 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 microprocessor (hesitating between the Intel 8086 (16 bit) and the Motorola MC68000, they decided to use the Intel 8088 (8 - 16 bit) processor, as the two other ones were considered too powerful) and used the Microsoft´s MS-DOS operating system. The original IBM PC wasn't very powerful and was less powerful than a lot of 8 bit computers at the time. The very first PC’s had only 16 KB RAM and no floppy disk units, they used cassettes to load & store programs.A more typical system for home or school with a memory of 64K bytes, a single diskette drive and its own display, was priced around US$3,000 (US$9000) today. An expanded system for business with color graphics, two diskette drives, and a printer cost about US$4,500 (US$13,700 today). A hard drive wasn’t added until 1983 with the introduction of the IBM PC XT, with a 10 MB hard drive, 128KB RAM and a 360KB floppy drive, at a cost of US$5000 (US$13,000 today).
The model 5150 was actually a success due to name and fame of IBM, high quality construction (especially the keyboard and monitor), great expandability and IBM's decision to publish complete technical specs. The IBM PC revolutionized business computing by becoming the first PC to gain widespread adoption by industry. Such was IBM's reputation that 200,000 of the PCs were sold in the first year. As a result the PC 5150 set a standard by which every other computer company was to be measured. IBM ran the business computer market up to the end of the 80's.