<story><title>How two bored 1970s housewives helped create the PC industry</title><url>http://www.fastcompany.com/3047428/how-two-bored-1970s-housewives-helped-create-the-pc-industry</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>zeteo</author><text>This can be read as a story of what happens when management becomes divorced from engineering... literally.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt;Lore Harp and Carole Ely of Westlake Village brought along the Vector 1, a PC designed by Lore&amp;#x27;s husband, Bob Harp.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt;In 1980, the partnership began to crack at the seams. The stresses of the company took a heavy toll on Bob and Lore&amp;#x27;s marriage, prompting them to seek a divorce.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt;Bob fought with Vector&amp;#x27;s board of directors, insisting the company should sell an IBM PC compatible machine, but Lore and the board resisted. [...] &amp;quot;I felt that I had to leave the company and start another one based on PC compatibles,&amp;quot; says Bob. Vector&amp;#x27;s board granted his wish, firing him in 1981. The following year, Bob founded Corona Data Systems, which created one of the first IBM PC clones.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt;Lore became the first female founder to take her company public on the New York Stock Exchange. But the celebration was short-lived. IBM PC&amp;#x27;s jump into the personal computer market in August of that year had a clarifying effect on the industry.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt;In 1982, Lore married tech media magnate Patrick McGovern, the founder of research firm IDC and publisher of Computerworld and InfoWorld [...] She sought a new beginning with more time devoted to her marriage. [...] Between the grueling daily commute and a lack of love from the board of directors, Lore had had enough. She stepped down once again, this time for good. It was 1984; she was 40 years old.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt;The company filed for bankruptcy in 1985, ceased operations in 1986, and a holding company liquidated all its assets [...] in 1987</text></comment>
<story><title>How two bored 1970s housewives helped create the PC industry</title><url>http://www.fastcompany.com/3047428/how-two-bored-1970s-housewives-helped-create-the-pc-industry</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>Zikes</author><text>I got through the first paragraph before the whole page was replaced with an interstitial ad.&lt;p&gt;What would you call that, Flash Of Actual Content?</text></comment>