Compaq Computers: Rod Canion (2019)

How I Built This with Guy Raz

Guy Raz | Wondery

Business

4.8 • 31.1K Ratings

🗓️ 25 March 2019

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 1981, engineer Rod Canion left Texas Instruments and co-founded Compaq, which created the first IBM-compatible personal computer. This opened the door to an entire industry of PCs that could run the same software. PLUS for our postscript "How You Built That," we check back in with Danica Lause, who turned a knitting hobby into Peekaboos Ponytail Hats: knit caps with strategically placed holes for a ponytail or bun. (Original broadcast date: May 22, 2017). See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Prime members, you can listen to how I built this early and ad-free on Amazon Music.
0:07.0	Download the app today.
0:09.0	New years is here, and with it brings the possibility of change.
0:13.0	As one behavioral scientist put it, first starts are really powerful.
0:17.0	So as you head into 2023, LifeKit is a great resource to help you plan your life and tackle changes, both big and small.
0:24.0	Listen to the LifeKit podcast from NPR.
0:27.0	So back in the 1980s, Rod Canyon left Texas Instruments with one vision to create a better portable computer.
0:36.0	He had no idea his 28-pound invention would not only compete, but also be-out computing giant IBM.
0:44.0	We first ran this episode in May of 2017, and there is a lot of great stuff in here. Enjoy.
0:51.0	Well, it's assumed that if IBM enters a market, they take over and push everybody out.
0:57.0	In February of 1984, IBM introduces their own portable into the market.
1:05.0	Our orders stopped because before it actually was introduced, they were showing it to dealers and customers, and they just stopped ordering ours.
1:13.0	That was a very, very life-threatening situation.
1:17.0	We had this factory running full speed, and no place to go.
1:26.0	From NPR, it's how I built this, a show about innovators, entrepreneurs, idealists, and the stories behind the movements they built.
1:35.0	I'm Guy Ross, and on today's show, how Rod Canyon's personal computer startup compact took on the biggest computer company in the world, and won.
1:50.0	So, if you have a PC at home or at work, and you buy some software like Word or TurboTax, it doesn't really matter if you have a Dell or an HP or a Toshiba, because if it's a PC, it will run PC software.
2:11.0	And that makes perfect sense, right?
2:13.0	But believe it or not, in the 1980s, in the early days of personal computers, that is not how it worked.
2:20.0	If your computer was, say, an IBM, well, you needed software written for an IBM, an IBM was the biggest player by far.
2:30.0	In fact, some people thought that IBM would eventually crush all of the competition and become the only PC maker.
2:38.0	But all of that changed when Rod Canyon started compact. Now, Rod wasn't your typical restless entrepreneurial guy.
	...

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