I'm thinking about some possible computer history PODs in the 1970s-1980s that might have some interesting effects. My goal sorta is to pull a 'The Mists of Time' on the computer industry, and leave a world where not everything is IBM compatible....
- What if the Apple III was a success? OTL it had two big problems: problems with Apple II compatability and major overheating due to Steve Jobs insisting on there being no CPU fan. What if its Apple II emulation was written better AND it had a CPU fan? It probably wouldn't be a massive seller, but without these flaws it could sell fairly well. Now, the Lisa and Macintosh projects were already underway by 1980, but were still fairly early in development. It is possible that, given a more successful Apple III, that the Lisa will be more successful (especially if Apple makes the alt-Lisa compatable with Apple II and/or III software). An Apple that's taken more seriously in the business field and with a wide variety of products might go in a very different direction from OTL, possibly failing or maybe being much bigger and less Mac-centered than OTL.
- What if Atari continued to work with Amiga Corporation to develop graphical machines instead of Commodore buying them out? We might have 'Atari Amiga' computers instead of 'Commodore Amiga', and the Atari ST would never exist. This might lead Commodore to fail much sooner than OTL, or it might decide to do something like make IBM PC compatibles and survive. If Atari gets both OTL ST and Amiga customers for its 'Atari Amiga's, its possible that they'd make enough money and continue to sell machines long after both the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga failed OTL.
- Or what if Jack Tramiel purchases Amiga corporation instead of Atari Corporation in 1984? This might lead to nasty things in the video game industry (Atari being spun off and going bankrupt? Perhaps even being bought out by Nintendo or something?). Actually, this is more likely to hasten the end of Amiga, Atari, and Commodore than anything else...
- WI Osborne was better run and managed to survive the mid-1980s by a mixture of better management and not announcing new products several months in advance? I doubt it would do any better than Kaypro but it could become another IBM compatible manufacturer...
-WI the IBM PC was a more expensive/powerful computer that did not translate as easily to the home computer market? One possibility is if it used a 5 mHz Motorola 68000 processor (just entering the market by 1980-81) instead of a 4.77 mHz Intel 8088. The 68000 is vastly superior to the 8088, resulting in a PC that's very powerful, but rather more expensive than OTL. The PC sells well in the corporate sector (it's an IBM machine and its a cheaper alternative to the workstations and minicomputers of the day), but remains too expensive for the home market for a long time, and doesn't translate so well to clone machines. No 'PC standard', and x86 architecture is embraced by various manufacturers who use different OS systems, mainly CP/M. Radio Shack, Kaypro, Apple, Atari, and Commodore probably remain the major home computer manufacturers.
MS-DOS probably never exists. Microsoft probably sells XENIX to IBM for PCs, never buying QDOS, which remains a small CP/M clone.
-WI there was a wider variety in the computer market, instead of OTL being mostly a slew of $500-5000 x86s? Is there any way, for example, for say really cheap and low-end computers to sell well to this day for kids and 3rd world countries? Lets say something with a Zilog Z80 or an 8086, either a kit computer for hobbyists (similar to radio kits) or a assembled cheapie computer. Basically, the idea is to continue the sub-$100 computer market that computers like Sinclairs and Commodore VICs had. The problem is that there's no way you're going to get a hard drive into a computer like that... maybe either earlier, cheaper flash memory?
- What if the Apple III was a success? OTL it had two big problems: problems with Apple II compatability and major overheating due to Steve Jobs insisting on there being no CPU fan. What if its Apple II emulation was written better AND it had a CPU fan? It probably wouldn't be a massive seller, but without these flaws it could sell fairly well. Now, the Lisa and Macintosh projects were already underway by 1980, but were still fairly early in development. It is possible that, given a more successful Apple III, that the Lisa will be more successful (especially if Apple makes the alt-Lisa compatable with Apple II and/or III software). An Apple that's taken more seriously in the business field and with a wide variety of products might go in a very different direction from OTL, possibly failing or maybe being much bigger and less Mac-centered than OTL.
- What if Atari continued to work with Amiga Corporation to develop graphical machines instead of Commodore buying them out? We might have 'Atari Amiga' computers instead of 'Commodore Amiga', and the Atari ST would never exist. This might lead Commodore to fail much sooner than OTL, or it might decide to do something like make IBM PC compatibles and survive. If Atari gets both OTL ST and Amiga customers for its 'Atari Amiga's, its possible that they'd make enough money and continue to sell machines long after both the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga failed OTL.
- Or what if Jack Tramiel purchases Amiga corporation instead of Atari Corporation in 1984? This might lead to nasty things in the video game industry (Atari being spun off and going bankrupt? Perhaps even being bought out by Nintendo or something?). Actually, this is more likely to hasten the end of Amiga, Atari, and Commodore than anything else...
- WI Osborne was better run and managed to survive the mid-1980s by a mixture of better management and not announcing new products several months in advance? I doubt it would do any better than Kaypro but it could become another IBM compatible manufacturer...
-WI the IBM PC was a more expensive/powerful computer that did not translate as easily to the home computer market? One possibility is if it used a 5 mHz Motorola 68000 processor (just entering the market by 1980-81) instead of a 4.77 mHz Intel 8088. The 68000 is vastly superior to the 8088, resulting in a PC that's very powerful, but rather more expensive than OTL. The PC sells well in the corporate sector (it's an IBM machine and its a cheaper alternative to the workstations and minicomputers of the day), but remains too expensive for the home market for a long time, and doesn't translate so well to clone machines. No 'PC standard', and x86 architecture is embraced by various manufacturers who use different OS systems, mainly CP/M. Radio Shack, Kaypro, Apple, Atari, and Commodore probably remain the major home computer manufacturers.
MS-DOS probably never exists. Microsoft probably sells XENIX to IBM for PCs, never buying QDOS, which remains a small CP/M clone.
-WI there was a wider variety in the computer market, instead of OTL being mostly a slew of $500-5000 x86s? Is there any way, for example, for say really cheap and low-end computers to sell well to this day for kids and 3rd world countries? Lets say something with a Zilog Z80 or an 8086, either a kit computer for hobbyists (similar to radio kits) or a assembled cheapie computer. Basically, the idea is to continue the sub-$100 computer market that computers like Sinclairs and Commodore VICs had. The problem is that there's no way you're going to get a hard drive into a computer like that... maybe either earlier, cheaper flash memory?
I still own an Atari 2600. It still works very well.