mwf@osu-dbs.UUCP (11/02/83)
The PCjr is here at last !!! What was all the excitement for? Big deal.
The PCjr is just a limited IBM PC which provides for an easy entry to the
world of the PC, but lets not pretend that junior will grow up to be just
like mommy. From what IBM has released no one can say for sure
but the PCjr seems to be limited by a lack of expansion bus. Upgrades may
eventually bring the PCjr closer to the PC, but at what cost? IBM is smart
they want to put a PC in every home, but the $2000-$3000 initial investment
puts a limit on their home sales. Now with the PCjr they can sell a near-PC
for $700-$1500 initially, and lots of software to boot (pun intended).
The problem comes when PCjr owner decides 'gee, now I want a Quad-function
board', oops! My PC cost $2300 for 128k, 1 360k drive, serial port, and
let's not forget those expansion slots (I wish there were 8), plus a
princeton graphics HX-12, and soon (i hope) a Qram Qcolor 1 video board.
I didn't wait to see the PCjr before I bought it (recently) because logic
told me that IBM would not price itself out of its own markt
<oops> that's 'market'. I am glad (relieved?) to see that logic was right.
Now I hope that IBM sells hords of PCjrs so that I can write lots of nice
software for the jr on my PC. Thank you, IBM, for making the PCjr so
compatible with the PC(sr?).
mark froelich
cbosgd!osu-dbs!mwf