First and most importantly, IBM dropped its practice of bundling (or tying) its software with hardware. That is broadly understood, even by IBM’s own people, to have kickstarted the birth of an independent software industry. Second, the IBM litigation also affected the development of the personal computer industry in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The IBM PC, developed while the lawsuit was still pending, was antitrust proof: IBM went with an extremely open design and declined to buy or exert excessive control over the firms who made the components, including Intel, Seagate, and Microsoft,
...more
