IBM-PC is a brand as well, (or at least it has been, in the 1980s). And just as with the PC, the term didn’t start as a brand, but it became one by being used like one.
That’s why we differentiate between desktop PCs and laptop/tablet PCs in the industry.
I don’t know who “we” is, but I don’t differentiate between desktop PC and laptop in my industry, I differentiate between desktop and laptop. And a tablet PC is a tablet that is (in principle) compatible with the IBM PC (as it’s running on x86 compatible processors) as opposed to “tablet computer”, “Android tablet” or “iPad” which are tablets that are not necessarily PC compatible.
When they added PC to software designation back in the day, they were letting you know it was specifically for a personal computer; not a VHS, not a record, not a game cartridge, not a cassette tape, etc.
Oh, that must be the reason for software packages that were labeled as “PC/Mac” when they contained both versions. So I would know I could run it on any personal computer AND on macs.
When Apple started marketing their PCs, they built their own unique system that wasn’t compatible with other PCs
Now this is plain bullshit. In the era Apple started making their personal computers, there was no standard they could have been compatible with. There were Comodores based on the 6502 processor, there were Tandy’s with Z80 CPUs, a few years later there were Atari’s 68k based computers, and none of those were compatible with each other. Only when IBM released their PC and other companies started to build PC compatible systems, a standard emerged. But even then, it took another decade for all the competitors to die out, to make the PC the default platform. Apple didn’t refuse to be compatible, they were just the only other platform of that pre-PC era that survived.
I’m pretty sure, the government didn’t just refuse to buy Apple computers because they were not compatible, but because they were not the market leader. And deciders like to buy the market leaders products even if they are crap, because then you’ll always have the excuse that you bought from the market leader. They wouldn’t have bought Amiga or Schneider either.
They’re still fighting against Right to Repair laws, as they want to force you to return to them directly for any maintenance.
As do dozens of other companies. Don’t get me wrong, I have no sympathies for Apple, they are a shitty company that rips off their customers as well as their employees and the environment. They do the bare minimum of what is still legal, just like thousands of other shitty companies out there. But they do not sell PCs (at least since 2023).
IBM-PC is a brand as well, (or at least it has been, in the 1980s). And just as with the PC, the term didn’t start as a brand, but it became one by being used like one.
I don’t know who “we” is, but I don’t differentiate between desktop PC and laptop in my industry, I differentiate between desktop and laptop. And a tablet PC is a tablet that is (in principle) compatible with the IBM PC (as it’s running on x86 compatible processors) as opposed to “tablet computer”, “Android tablet” or “iPad” which are tablets that are not necessarily PC compatible.
Oh, that must be the reason for software packages that were labeled as “PC/Mac” when they contained both versions. So I would know I could run it on any personal computer AND on macs.
Now this is plain bullshit. In the era Apple started making their personal computers, there was no standard they could have been compatible with. There were Comodores based on the 6502 processor, there were Tandy’s with Z80 CPUs, a few years later there were Atari’s 68k based computers, and none of those were compatible with each other. Only when IBM released their PC and other companies started to build PC compatible systems, a standard emerged. But even then, it took another decade for all the competitors to die out, to make the PC the default platform. Apple didn’t refuse to be compatible, they were just the only other platform of that pre-PC era that survived.
I’m pretty sure, the government didn’t just refuse to buy Apple computers because they were not compatible, but because they were not the market leader. And deciders like to buy the market leaders products even if they are crap, because then you’ll always have the excuse that you bought from the market leader. They wouldn’t have bought Amiga or Schneider either.
As do dozens of other companies. Don’t get me wrong, I have no sympathies for Apple, they are a shitty company that rips off their customers as well as their employees and the environment. They do the bare minimum of what is still legal, just like thousands of other shitty companies out there. But they do not sell PCs (at least since 2023).