A Very Vintage Tech Christmas

The state of the home computer market in the early 1980s was balkanized, with over two dozen incompatible mainstream computer models competing. IBM, still heady from its success with the business-oriented PC, decided to enter the home with the PCjr. Big Blue's battle for the home was incredibly well covered in the computer press of the day--in fact, all of the hype contributed greatly to the flawed machine's rapid downfall. Upon the debut of the revised PCjr in 1984 (sans the reviled Chiclet keyboard), Tom Halfhill of Compute Magazine wrote, "Nine months before, the excited gathering of journalists had buzzed with anticipation about the long-awaited [PCjr] that was sure to conquer the home computer market, legitimize a confused industry, and establish new standards for others to follow." That never happened, but machines based on the standards set by the full-fledged IBM PC--not the PCjr--did come to dominate the home market.