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John Bull

My latest tech history column is now up on Every!

In 1981, Don Estridge broke every rule IBM had to create the IBM PC. He invented an entire industry and gifted it to the company he loved.

IBM never forgave him for it. This is his story. every.to/the-crazy-ones/the-mi

@garius

Wonderful column. Thank you for this.

@garius This was a fantastic article. Where do I know your name from? Ever dev games? You TFT?

@QINGCHARLES nah - just journalism (tech/politics/transport), streaming and general historian stuff!

@garius oh man, what a story! I was in bits after reading that 🥲

@garius Wow, what an inspiring story! Thank you for that :)

@garius What a marvelous story. It intersects with my life at so many points, too. Thank you!

(I hate to offer a note, but in the Rise of the Clones section, Estridge is still alive in 1987. 😳)

@susiemagoo nope - died in 1985.

(Glad you enjoyed it!)

@garius Ah!!!! I didn’t catch the parallel universe! 🙁 What a time.

@garius

another good one!

good on ya!

@garius
Now I'm confused. I could have sworn that a research group I was working with in 1978 got a shiny new IBM PC to use in their lab -- I was working on the software for it.
Edit: obviously I remember this wrong. I know the year is right, so it must have been something similar to an IBM PC, but I can't for the life of me remember what.

@obot50549535 Could have been a Xerox Alto?

@garius
Maybe, but I think it was physically smaller than an Alto. Maybe a Compupro, or something like that.

@garius Another brilliant article. Thanks very much for writing this.

@garius Someone's cutting onions nearby, that must be it. I can't be getting teary-eyed over some IBM executive...

(Mind you, if and when you get around to writing Tramiel's story I don't expect the same reaction.)

@cunobaros @garius “Sterk spul hè, die Fisherman’s Friend…”