The link to the IBM 5150 pattern can be found at the end of this post.
I was so excited to get to high school because it was my first exposure to a real computer science class. My computer science teacher was the best kind of nerd who had an office full of exotica. Highlights included interrupting regular classes to show us how to communicate with nearby orbiting satellites, showing us VideoToaster vids, bringing out a chicklet-keyboard PET complete with 8” drives, and even comparing real Rolex’s from fakes. I don’t know if he ever realized the life-long impact these experiences would have on me but I hold them all dear to my heart.
Truthfully, I wasn’t very impressed with the IBMs. We had some XTs and a a few ATs. None of which had much for graphic capabilities. After cutting my teeth on the C64 and seeing what Amiga’s could do out-of the-box, it was pretty disappointing. Add to that the fact that I was not much of a programmer, and I knew that I might need to look elsewhere to find my bliss. Luckily, a year later we got our first Windows machine, a 286 and I discovered Desktop Publishing and I found my true passion.
All of my papercraft designs include changeable screens, so you can choose from a number of productivity programs including DOS and Wordstar!
Even though I never was satisfied with my early IBM exposure, I always wanted to learn as much as I could. I knew these machines were highly regarded and I had read about the troubles at Commodore so the writing was “on the screen”, the IBM series of computers were the likely future of personal computing.
I love making mini-accessories nearly as much as I love making mini-computers.
Many years on and I still have a strong connection to the 5150’s industrial form factor. The machine was built like a tank and the simplicity and utility of the design transcends the 80’s. I have no doubt that if IBM wanted to get back into the consumer hardware game that they could seriously take some cues from the original.
Rear view of the 5150.
I hope you have as much fun assembling this papercraft as I had making it. I received a shout out from YouTube legend Clint, at Lazy Game Reviews today so it seemed like an appropriate time to make this post.
Thanks as always for all the love. If you’d like to see some more IBM stuff, be sure to slap that like button silly. I have something special for the German Amiga fans (any guesses?) coming soon.
You can download the IBM 5150 papercraft model here.