‘First Personal Computer’ Video Shows Inside Of IBM Computer, Reminds Viewers Of How Technology Has Progressed

Do you remember when the very first personal computer was released?

A now-viral YouTube video from the popular channel “What’s Inside?” reportedly provides an inside look of an IBM personal computer from the 1980s. Perhaps what makes the video even more interesting is the modern-day perspective added to it. As the man in the video (who was admittedly born after 1980 – which is when the computer in the video was manufactured) focuses on showing off the IBM personal computer and its packaged accessories, an 11-year-old boy named Lincoln explores and assembles a Kano computer kit.

This particular video is essentially a history lesson for most kids that more than likely have no firsthand experience or knowledge of floppy disks, MS-DOS or the “original” version of the once-popular computer game Oregon Trail. However, for most adults born in the 1980s and earlier, this will serve as more of a nostalgic walk down Memory Lane that will trigger a vast collection of memories from when this computer was classified around the world as “cutting-edge technology.”

Early developments and designs of computers date back to the 1930s and 1940s, which was basically the era of emergence for computing technology in general. According to the Computer History Museum, an early example of a conceptual “personal computer” came in the late 1950s with the Librascope LGP-30 and later in 1962 with the MIT LINC, which was designed by MIT Lincoln Laboratory engineer Wesley Clark.

The overall design, structure, and efficiency of personal computers really started to take off in the 1970s and 1980s – especially with such models as the Tandy TRS-80, Atari Model 400, and the Macintosh launched by Apple Computer in 1984.

The model analyzed in this now-viral YouTube video of an IBM personal computer from that period was reportedly based on a 4.77 MHz Intel 800 microprocessor and (as shown in the video) used the MS-DOS operating system designed by Microsoft. According to the Computer History Museum, this particular personal computer model made waves in the worlds of technology and business computing – “becoming the first PC to gain widespread adoption by industry.” The report further states that this personal computer model was “widely copied” and eventually “led to the creation of a vast ‘ecosystem’ of software, peripherals” and other platform commodities.

As highlighted in the video, there were no SD cards or thumb drives as the younger generations of today’s technology use in schools and at home. Back then, there were large cases in which you stored your floppy disks. When you compare the IBM personal computer (including its structure and overall design) with the modern-day computers that have saturated the market in recent years, it is impressive to see just how far the world of personal computers has come within just the past 20-30 years.

An even more surreal point is that perhaps the personal computer in your home right now will go viral in a similar video 20-30 years from now.

[Featured Image by AP Images]