BM - in most eyes the ‘founder’ of computers (not it’s NOT Bill Gates kids) - is up for grabs. An interesting scenario. Think about it - Yi-chi computers could buy IBM and there you go! It’s another great american brand on something. There are so few left.

So, who’s gonna snag up IBM? Does it matter? Will it be too publicized that there will be no brand value associated with an IBM PC upon the closure of the venture? Will IBM just be erased from the landscape as the dependable guys you call for serious iron? Are they going to disappear?

I’m not sure how it will settle out, but I do know that they, well - when was the last time you saw an IBM computer - save for a notebook. Since they had the NetVista all-in-one PCs - I think their innovation really died somewhere along the way. Dell and sold LOADS more than IBM - and they knew it.

Sure, they make good notebooks. But really, when you say IBM, I think Selectric. I don’t think AS/400 or System 36 - I think typewriter - in fact, I think of how wonderful those selectric keyboards were. Sad to think that the closest thing is my Micosoft Natural Keyboard - not the new fancy schmantzy ones that have all those extra “media” keys and “shortcut” keys that you never use - well I don’t. I’ve been trained to function in certain ways - and guess what - I can’t change that simply!

Okay, back to IBM - did I mention great Typewriters?

IBM has had a long lasting legacy in the computer industry and we should thank them for all the work they have done to pioneer many technologies which jump-started our current environment. Without IBM, where would we be? Oh yeah, there was Honeywell and Unisys, but thanks to good ‘ol IBM, they brought the technology into the home, unlike anyone other than Apple, Atari, Commodore, Kaypro, Packard Bell, Laser (remember the Apple //e knock-offs?) - but the computers that are here today are of a totally different caliber. The brands have all changed and grown up.

When I think HP - I think about the systems I worked on in my early career. They were big. I mean, large. They didn’t take up a room or anything, but compared to todays standards if you saw it you would have thought it was a chest deep freezer sitting in a cold room. Hmm - must be a meat locker or something. Those were the days.

When IBM has left the space, we will see the brand reappear as so many ‘licensed’ products we see today - IBM had MicroInnovations using their name on input devices for a very long time. Their products were good too. Remember, IBM had Lexmark using their name (or was it the same company back then and then they decided not to use it anymore? I dunno) to hawk printers in the early days of the dot matrix and ink jet printers. My - they were big, weren’t they? I remember and IBM printer that had several trays on it. That was SOOO high tech. It was the late 80s - we printed our letters off of an System/36. Such a fancy thing — it would do letters - collated in advance and each one personalized!

Who cared that it was really a selectric typewriter that basically spit out the pages and it was fed and output to a fancy new device? It was freaking cool! Hell, the paper even loaded through the printer as if it was a typewriter.

What fun back then huh?

Well, I’m glad I still have a couple copies of two old IBM DOS manuals. Nore sure which versions, but I have fond recollections of each of those little binders. They were some of my educational texts when I was a child. I read them. Front to back - side to side and every which way until Wednesday. I didn’t even have a computer to work on yet, but I knew I could get access to one every once in a while @ my dad’s job. So, that was neat! I remember using the ‘dir’ command for the first time….. (And if you have any you wanna send me, email me for an address!)

Thanks IBM for being the founding father that you were. Just like all the great men who founded this country - they eventually were swept away with time…. All good things must come to an end my friend. And when it’s time. It’s time.

When did you last see an IBM PC at a local store near you, catalog, magazine or billboard? Well, I have seen them - in fact TigerDirect.com sells them - they are refurbished machines. These are generally units which were under “lease” to an organization for a period of 1 to 5 years, then they are tested, inspected, cleaned and brought up to “like-new” condition. ‘Off Lease’ items may have physical blemishes, most commonly small scratches or markings. In fact, IBM has so much product that comes back off lease - they appear to have a whole section on their site now: