IBM PS/1
The PS/1 story begins in 1987, when IBM watched with concern as PC clones gained ground. These compatible machines were eating into its market share, selling for far less than Big Blue’s computers. Home users and small businesses turned away from IBM, more sensitive to price than brand prestige.
IBM was not ignoring this segment. Three years earlier, the company had taken a shot at it with the PCjr, a computer meant to appeal to American households. This machine offered interesting innovations: game cartridges, television output, and a wireless keyboard called the "Freeboard." But the PCjr crashed and burned in 1985, leaving IBM empty-handed in the consumer market.
Meanwhile, the company put all its eggs in the PS/2 line, aimed at businesses. These computers matched the competition in performance and offered extensive expansion possibilities, but their pricing made them unaffordable for home users. With over twenty models in the catalog, the lineup was incomprehensible for anyone simply looking for a family computer.
In 1990, IBM launched the Personal System/1. This time, the approach changed completely. The first models adopted a bold all-in-one design: the color monitor and system unit formed a compact assembly, connected by thick cables. The power supply was housed in the monitor, creating total dependency between the two components. This configuration recalled Apple’s compact Macintosh computers, except that Apple integrated everything into a single case.
Later versions would abandon this aesthetic choice to return to separate components, foreshadowing the future Aptiva line. The PS/1 ran PC-DOS, IBM’s version of the MS-DOS system. To simplify life for novice users, IBM developed a graphical interface nicknamed "4-quad." Windows or OS/2 remained technically installable, but IBM discouraged their use due to the performance and stability problems this caused.
A technical peculiarity distinguished these early machines: unlike typical installations on hard disk or floppy disks, the operating system and interface resided directly in read-only memory. Tandy had experimented with this approach on certain models in its 1000 line. The advantage proved immediate: fast startup and increased reliability.
Technical evolution accelerated over the years. The launch models featured an Intel 80286 processor at 10 MHz, modest performance but sufficient for the era’s office applications. Four years later, when IBM ceased production, the final PS/1 models integrated an Intel 486 DX2 running at 66 MHz, multiplying computing capacity.
This particular arrangement of the power supply in the monitor was not a first. The Amstrad PC1512 had adopted this solution, as had the Coleco Adam, which housed its power supply in the printer. But this configuration required using a proprietary connector between monitor and system unit, limiting replacement or upgrade possibilities.
IBM did not simply ship a machine. The company deployed an ambitious marketing strategy to recapture the consumer market. A telephone support service operated seven days a week, weekends included. PS/1 owners could interact with each other through a dedicated online service, the "Users’ Club," prefiguring the user communities that would flourish with the Internet.
The PS/1 adventure ended in 1994. IBM halted production, marking a turning point in its strategy. The following year, the PS/VP and PS/2e variants also disappeared from the catalog. These decisions reflected IBM’s gradual withdrawal from the consumer personal computer market, a sector where component standardization and price wars drastically reduced margins.