IBM's PC Junior Turns 30, Too

[wraggster]

Like the Mac (http://apple.slashdot.org/story/14/01/26/1851236/watch-steve-jobs-demo-the-mac-in-1984), the IBM PC Junior (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_PCjr) first went on sale in late January 1984. That is where the similarities end — the PC Junior became the biggest PC dud of all time (http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow/story/286031/the-12-biggest-pc-duds-ever/12). Back on May 17, 1984, the NY Times reported that the PC Junior 'is too expensive for casual home users (http://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/17/business/ibm-s-problems-with-junior.html?pagewanted=all), but, at the same time, is not nearly powerful enough for serious computer users who can afford a more capable machine.' The article also quoted Peter Norton, then still a human programmer who had not yet morphed into a Brand, who said that the PC Junior 'may well be targeted at a gray area in the market that just does not exist.'' IBM cancelled the machine in March 1985, after only selling 270,000 of them. While it was a commercial flop, the machine is still liked by some. Michael Brutman's PCJr page (http://www.brutman.com/PCjr/) attempts to preserve the history and technical information of the IBM PCjr and YouTube has a video of a
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jky2gZLuGxY

http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/14/01/28/1427238/ibms-pc-junior-turns-30-too