Silicon Cowboys Page #3

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And the question I get asked

more than anything else

By people who are about

to buy computers is,

Should I buy an ibm, or should

I buy one of the ibm lookalikes?

I think I'm told there's

about 50 ibm clones

Out there on the market now.

What's the difference,

do you think,

Between a clone that makes

it and a clone that fails?

Steve flannigan:
We

didn't want to do

A better machine than

ibm, we didn't want

To technically be superior.

We wanted the software

to run the same.

Gary stimac:
The

keystrokes were identical,

You didn't have to look

at a different manual,

There was no training required.

You just sat in front of

it, and it worked the same.

Rod canion:
It wasn't

some vague definition

Of what does compatibility

mean-- it was very clear.

We have to run all the

software, and use all

The peripherals that ibm does.

Do you have any idea how

expensive this thing was?

Let's turn this

thing inside out.

Chris cantwell:

"halt & catch fire"

Is a show about the

reverse engineering

Process of the ibm pc.

The thing that really drew us to

texas was the story of compaq.

You've got characters that,

for all intents and purposes,

Feel like outlaws, and they're

coming in to take on ibm.

And they basically do

it by robbing a bank.

Nobody ever got fired

for buying an ibm, right?

You can be more.

This is your chance.

What we knew was

that ibm had come

Out with a product that was made

with off the shelf components.

A personal computer,

like any other computer,

Is just a nothing box full

of electronic switches

And hardware.

Rod canion:
They hadn't

designed a new disk

Drive or a new processor.

Anyone can buy all this

stuff off the shelf right now.

Rod canion:
This was stuff

that everybody in the industry

Was using some form or another.

Except the chip.

Except what's on the chip.

Steve flannigan:
Without

ibm code it wouldn't run.

It is the program,

it is the magic.

Rod canion:
We sent gary stimac

to dallas to buy some manuals.

Gary stimac:
I purchased

an ibm reference manual,

And it had all the listings

of the ibm code in it.

Rod canion:
He says, whoa,

this isn't hard at all.

Bad news is they copyrighted

it, and they own how it works.

Gary stimac:
I circled

the word copyright,

Brought it to the my

lawyer, and he said, hmm.

Jim harris:
What many of

the companies were doing was

They were copying ibm's code.

Guess what, ibm sued them--

out of business they were.

Good news is there's a

way around that, sort of.

We needed to make

sure that we did

Not shoot ourselves in the

foot from a legal standpoint.

I said, gary, you can

no longer write the code

Because you've looked at it.

In fact, you can't answer

questions about the code.

You're going to have to find a

different job here at compaq.

Steve flannigan:
You can never

look, you just can never look.

If you look, and it

influences your work,

Then you can be open to a

lawsuit and you've copied it.

Gary stimac:
No one

in the entire office

Could ever buy a

tech reference manual

Without me removing the

pages and me destroying them.

Charles lee:
We had to basically

create a functional device that

Would do what the ibm

pc did without knowing

How the ibm pc did it.

Would be similar to playing

baseball blindfolded.

Very difficult, not

impossible, but very difficult.

So you might strike

out a couple times,

And you might fall

down a couple times,

But eventually you're going

to start to get a feel for it,

And you start getting a hit.

How many of these addresses

do we need to transcribe?

65,536.

Charles lee:
We

went out and got all

The ibm software we could find.

Everything we could find--

games, or lotus 1-2-3,

Or unimportant, really

important, all of it.

We got every bit we could find.

Steve flannigan:
We would

go through and run them

Until something broke, and

then we'd figure out well, what

Broke, and why did it break.

Steve flannigan:

We liked the idea

Of what compaq was trying

to do a lot because

Of the pc compatibility.

We thought it was

the right idea.

We were rooting for it,

but nobody really knew

How it was going to come out.

Announcer:
We're ibm, and we've

seen some very skeptical people

Become very enthusiastic.

And that makes us

proud because we

Have more computers helping more

small businesses than anybody.

Bill aulet:
So at

ibm there was always

This arrogance, this

confidence, that no one

Could recreate what we did.

And if they did,

we could just we

Could just tweak

something because we

Controlled the marketplace.

Announcer:
Ibm entered the

personal computer market

Two years ago and went

all out unleashing

Its power as the sixth

largest industrial corporation

In the us.

Already, the computer

giant has won

25% of the personal

computer market,

And its share is growing.

Compaq-- they were

prying open a lock box,

And they were letting the

genie out of the bottle.

Rod canion:
I was extremely

excited and scared to death

Because I was the

one that had to stand

Up and make this speech,

which I had never done before.

Ben rosen:
Rod was not

experienced in dealing

With the public and the press.

Rod canion:

Ben had made sure

Everybody that

mattered was there.

Tv cameras were there.

We're in this beautiful

old room called the library

At the helmsley palace.

Good morning and welcome.

My name is rod canion,

and I am the president

Of compaq computer

corporation of houston.

The mysterious company

you've been invited

To come and hear about today.

Rod canion :
I spent

most of the night practicing,

Changing, practicing, changing.

This is an

important day for us.

The public introduction of a new

personal computer that has been

In development for nine months.

Rod canion:

It was the big city

And we were the kids

from the plains of texas.

There's a three piece

suit, and my thick glasses,

And we looked out of place.

This is the compaq

portable computer.

The unit is laid over smoothly

using its carrying handle,

And the keyboard is removed

by sliding two latches

And lifting it out.

That's how easy it is to

get it ready for operation.

It was a portable

and that was something

Ibm had no entrant in at

all, and it was 27 pounds.

Portability-- people need

to be able to take it anyway.

It's going to have a handle.

Chris cantwell:
It

was simultaneously

An incredibly revolutionary

idea but sounds so

Mundane to today's audiences.

A handle, wow.

It is the only

personal computer,

Portable or otherwise, that is

truly compatible with the ibm

Personal computer.

I begin to really

realize, this is it.

The flag was going down, and

the race was going to begin.

I repeat, compaq is the only

personal computer that is truly

Compatible with the ibm pc.

Bill aulet:
This was just

a blip on the screen.

Who cares about a luggable?

It just doesn't

matter, it's a toy.

It's a curiosity--

it's nothing more.

Announcer:
While some software

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