IBM PC/AT: Need more input

The original PC: the IBM PC 5150 and its 26 kg powerhouse successor, the IBM AT 5170, with a dot matrix printer and pen plotter. A serial mouse and joystick as early input devices.

The IBM PC 5150 heralded a new era of personal computers in 1981. Its successor, the IBM PC/AT 5170, brought significantly greater processing power and expanded capabilities to the desk in 1984 – albeit at the cost of considerable weight. This exhibit not only illustrates the development of this early generation of PCs, but also the peripheral devices used to operate the computers and output their results onto paper. In addition to the serial mouse and the joystick, these include a dot matrix printer and a pen plotter, which transfers graphics and drawings onto paper using a pen. This illustrates how the operation and practical applications of personal computers developed in the early 1980s.