Speaking of personal computers, I am convinced that if IBM hadn’t been so afraid of working with ATT and licensed UNIX instead of contracting Microsoft (then known for its BASIC interpreter) for the disk operating system for the first IBM PC, that the world would be better off today.

UNIX required more than the 8088 chip, so the experts claim. Well fine, but it has always been lamented that IBM picked the 8088 too.

IBM is a good historical lesson: when a corporation is so concerned with protecting its near monopoly status in a business sector, that corporation will make choices that are akin to cutting off its own nose.