• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

Don't cringe: IBM PCjr Sales Training video

mbbrutman

Associate Cat Herder
Staff member
Joined
May 3, 2003
Messages
6,409
Do not eat before watching this ...



And here is the backstory:

IBM produced a sales training package for the PCjr in October 1983. The package consisted of two booklets, two diskettes, and an optional video tape. The video above is the contents of the video tape.

(Keep in mind that in 1983 a VCR was still pretty much a luxury.)

An interesting thing to note is the absence of the PCjr Color Monitor. The standard CGA monitor is used here, as it is in other early PCjr advertising. I suspect the PCjr monitor was not available in time for the early advertising, which is why it is not featured in any of the early advertising.


Mike
 
Do not eat before watching this ...


Heh, just watched some Blackadder prior to this so I was expecting Rowan Atkinson to pop in at any moment.
Actually, replace 'Scrooge' with Sir Edmund Blackadder and 'Bob' with Baldrick, and you've got a sales training video to reckon with. "Baldrick, this pee-see-junior of yours might be just what we need... for I have a cunning plan!"

As for the monitor thing, I do believe that the 5153 itself was still fairly new at that point...
 
I was surprised the AT video didn't mention EGA.

PC Jr video was great. Just cheesy enough to be memorable and laying out the whole marketing concept.
 
I also noticed that they never put the 5153 on top of the PCjr, but rather always to the side of it... is it too big and/or too heavy to fit on top?

And they have the cordless keyboard on a table about 15 feet away from the computer, which is hooked up to what appears to be a 13-inch TV set... who could read the text from a TV that small, that far away? And then the kid pulls out a joystick, whose cord would obviously not be long enough to reach that distance.
 
The AT video mentions and shows the color/mono switch on the motherboard several times, but never actually tells you which position is for color and which is for monochrome. And FRU just sounds wrong when pronounced as "froo"!

The grounding leads for the drives are a new one on me, too. My AT-clone case (which is visually identical to the real thing except for the logo on the front) didn't come with them.
 
The AT video mentions and shows the color/mono switch on the motherboard several times, but never actually tells you which position is for color and which is for monochrome. And FRU just sounds wrong when pronounced as "froo"!

The grounding leads for the drives are a new one on me, too. My AT-clone case (which is visually identical to the real thing except for the logo on the front) didn't come with them.

They are three on the AT for each drive. Nicely routed to. I don't think the XT has any but it has been a while since I opened up an XT.
 
Do not eat before watching this ...
LOL, that's a great video Mike. Thanks for posting. It was quite informative too. I didn't know much about the PC Junior. I'm not sure that they ever got to our shores. I didn't realise it only had ONE floppy drive and TWO cartridge slots! I imagine one floppy drive would have made it quite limiting for all that Lotus 1-2-3 work people might have taken home!

On that aspect (and wandering off topic perhaps), I am uncomfortable with promotional videos that encourage taking work home. I like to leave work at work and I'll stay late to finish up if I have to. Home is for family and hobbies...like vintage computing (-: I understand though, that a blended life is becoming the norm for many.

Tez
 
The grounding leads for the drives are a new one on me, too. My AT-clone case (which is visually identical to the real thing except for the logo on the front) didn't come with them.

Most AT clone cases came with at least threaded holes for grounding leads--both of mine certainly do--and I added the leads--just a length of wire with a ring terminal on one end and a female spade terminal on the other, both crimped on. It makes a lot of sense if you consider that there's no direct electrical contact of the drive body with the AT case (the slides are plastic). While it's usual to have frame and electrical ground connected together on a drive, not all did.
 
I also noticed that they never put the 5153 on top of the PCjr, but rather always to the side of it... is it too big and/or too heavy to fit on top?

Worse; it could affect the operation of the floppy drive (EMI, RFI, not sure). The manual warns against placing "the monitor" on top of the PCjr where "monitor" is implied to be a 5153.

The later PCjr monitor was engineered to not have this problem which is why you see it on top of the PCjr all the time, and why its width matches the PCjr's width.
 
Worse; it could affect the operation of the floppy drive (EMI, RFI, not sure). The manual warns against placing "the monitor" on top of the PCjr where "monitor" is implied to be a 5153.

I guess the PCjr's top cover is plastic? I know the older Tandy 1000s (pre-SL/TL) used plastic covers, but had metal shielding over the drives, and on some models, over the expansion cards as well -- which also helped to support the weight of the monitor.

To me, the most interesting part of the video is that they suggested the PCjr be used in the office during the day, and then the whole computer be taken home at the end of the day, and connected to your TV set -- a nice idea, but who could possibly stand using that Chiclet keyboard all day at work??
 
I guess the PCjr's top cover is plastic? I know the older Tandy 1000s (pre-SL/TL) used plastic covers, but had metal shielding over the drives, and on some models, over the expansion cards as well -- which also helped to support the weight of the monitor.

100% plastic. The only reason the PCjr monitor fits on top is because it is lighter :) IBM patented a process of "spraying metal" all over the inside of the case to meet basic FCC class regulations. Pre-production models used a different process that Mike can elaborate on.

who could possibly stand using that Chiclet keyboard all day at work??

You've discovered arguably the #2 reason the PCjr was a flop.

I'm giving a presentation on the PCjr at an upcoming convention; more details as I get them. Convention is in Cleveland, OH in April. I plan to cover as much as I can in 50 minutes while still keeping it entertaining (to the degree that the PCjr can entertain!).
 
Back
Top