August 12 1981. I was working for Arthur Andersen & Co Management Consultants as a newly hired senior consultant. I remember the day well - sitting in the classroom (I was talking the Systems Installation 1 class), getting ready for the day, and reading the Wall Street Journal. The paper had this huge write up about IBM's IBM PC (IBM5150). While it was a pretty puny system (both by today's standards and even the standards at the time), but it was something I just knew would be big.
The following Monday morning, I hot-footed it into the office to catch the AA Partner I reported to. I told him I thought this would change our business. His reply was curt - to the effect that if it was important, he'd know. And since he didn't know, it could not be important (and could you close the door on your way out). It was perhaps the only time in many years Keith Burgess was utterly and totally wrong.
The amusing side to this tale is that many years later, Keith became MD andn Chairman at UK training company QA (where I worked as Chief Technologist for 4 years), until the take over.
It's hard to believe that it was only 25 years ago - it seems like several life times!
Happy birthday IBM PC!!
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