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From: devine@vianet.UUCP (Bob Devine)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: 640K mem limit (was: MS-DOS Versions)
Message-ID: <118@vianet.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 9-Jan-87 17:57:43 EST
Article-I.D.: vianet.118
Posted: Fri Jan  9 17:57:43 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 10-Jan-87 02:22:41 EST
References: <2418@ihlpa.UUCP> <174200005@uiucuxc> <1793@ncoast.UUCP> <2784@osu-eddie.UUCP>
Organization: ViaNetix  Boulder, CO
Lines: 13
Summary: reason for 640K limit

In article <2784@osu-eddie.UUCP>, elwell@osu-eddie.UUCP (Clayton M. Elwell) writes:
> It's not MS-DOS or PC-DOS that limits you to 640K, it's the IBM video card.
> The scene is Boca Raton...
> "Hey, Joe? Where should I put the video buffer?"
> "How about the middle of the address space? That way we'll have room for lots
> of nonexistent ROM expansions!"
> "Great, I'll do it!"

  I suspect the "Joe" character was an IBM product planner who insisted
that the engineer limit the address to 640K so as not to make the PC a
possible competitor to the "real" IBM machines like Series 1, System 3x...

Bob Devine