When I first starting buying personal computers back in 1984, I did not know what to expect. In fact, my first PC was a IBM PCjr which was not much of a computer at all. It was not nearly as good as the Apple II or the Commodore at the time. I got it because I worked at IBM at the time and you could buy it with installment payments taken out of your paycheck. (It cost about $1700 in 2020 dollars)
It used the IBM PC’s 8088 CPU and BIOS interface, with a rudimentary graphics and sound card, memory slots, built-in joystick ports, and an infrared wireless keyboard. The PCjr supported memory expansion via “sidecar” modules, which are attached to the side of the computer. It also had its infamous chicklet keyboard which was not easy to use and was of poor quality.
The PCjr was unsuccessful in the market. It was only partially IBM compatible. There was also not a lot that could be done with the computer at the time. Remember, there was no internet and dial services were not yet available. There were few applications and mostly for me, it was my the first “gaming computer” because it did have rudimentary graphics.
Fast forward to the modern desktop. Although smart phones and tablets get all the press these days as productivity tools, I still recommend having a desktop computer as my main business tool. There are a lot of desktop computer deals out there this time of year. This is because I like I am actually a fan of a big monitor, a full size Microsoft Natural keyboard and I am most comfortable using Windows. I am also still old school and like to sit at a desk or table when I am using a computer. With the internet, I can also keep all my data and applications in the cloud so using applications from one device to another as I travel is relatively easy.
