=== Overview === By 1982, NEC was already a veteran of the personal computer business, having released three different computer series (the PC-8001, the PC-6001, and the PC-8801) to cater to different types of consumers. This strategy had been spearheaded by the Electronic Devices Business Group within the company, and they were enjoying the fruits of their success. But there were no such happy times in another NEC division called the Information Processing Business Group. Even though this group had been successfully selling mainframes and minicomputers to large corporations for nearly a decade, all of that was about to change. On the 12th of August, 1981, IBM released the first IBM Personal Computer, the 5150. NEC knew exactly what the 5150 represented. They recognized that the future of business computing would be personal: an entire computer for each worker. They also recognized that unless they delivered a personal computing solution of their own, Japanese businesses would turn to Big Blue. So the Information Processing Business Group got to work, and in just over a year they unveiled their answer: the PC-9801, a 16-bit computer powered by NEC's in-house version of the Intel 8086 processor. Besides having special hardware to handle the complexities of Japanese text, the PC-9801 boasted several improvements over the IBM 5150, such as a true 16-bit data bus, and graphics output at a resolution of 640x400 with 8 fixed colors, significantly better than the IBM PC's CGA standard. The Big Blue threat was averted, and within a few short years, the PC-9801 became the standard business computer in Japan. Whereas NEC's earlier computers were aimed at electronics tinkerers, young students, and even families, the PC-9801 was all business. It was boring. But it got the job done, and that meant the PC-9801 worked its way into not only every white-collar office in Japan, but also onto factory floors and into science labs. Even NEC's own PC-100, a fascinating and...
Tags: Japanese computers; PC-9801