Philip Don Estridge
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Philip Donald Estridge (June 23, 1937 - August 2, 1985), known as Don Estridge, led development of the original IBM Personal Computer (PC), and thus is known as "father of the IBM PC". His decisions dramatically changed the computer industry, resulting in a vast increase in the number of personal computers sold and bought, and creating an entire industry of hardware manufacturers of IBM PCs.
Estridge was born in Jacksonville, Florida in 1937. His father was a professional photographer. He graduated from Bishop Kenny High School in 1955, and from the University of Florida in 1959. One year after graduating, he married Mary Hellier, and they led a very happy marriage. He began work upon graduation, and worked in many at many sites until he moved to Boca Raton. He was a U.S. computer businessman and engineer. Before he worked in Boca Raton, Florida, he had two other jobs. One was with the Army designing a radar system using computers. The other was with NASA helping rocket ships clear earth's atmosphere.
It was after this he discovered his passion: designing a personal computer that could be easily used and functioning for the masses. He led the team which developed the IBM PC, and is responsible for choosing to have an open architecture and to buy parts and software outside of IBM. His choice of an open architecture and off-the-shelf components resulted in the IBM PC architecture becoming extremely ubiquitous. His efforts began around 1980 with a team of just 14 people and a revenue base of zero. By the time he gave up leading IBM's PC division (known then as Entry Level Systems) in 1985, the division had 10,000 employees and annual revenue of $4.5 billion.
He and his wife, Mary Ann Hellier Estridge, were killed in the crash of Delta 191 in Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas airport on August 2, 1985. Some people believe that the crash was due to a computer malfunction, but this speculation has never been proven. He was 48 years old. The Estridges were survived by three daughters.
Estridge has been honored many times. For example, in 1999 he was identified in CIO magazine as one of the people who "invented the enterprise". The Don Estridge High-Tech Middle School in Boca Raton, Florida, is named after him.
References
- The Father of the PC Revolution: Philip "Don" Estridge (http://www.cio.com/archive/010100/estridge.html), Jan Winston, CIO Magazine, Dec. 15, 1999/Jan. 1 2000. Part of Inventing the Enterprise (http://www.cio.com/archive/010100/inventing.html)
- View from the Top (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,32903,00.asp) by Michael J. Miller, PC Magazine, 09.04.01
- The IBM PC father: Remembering Don Estridge (http://networkingsmallbusiness.com/columnists/2004/122004tolly.html), Kevin Tolly, Network World, 2004-12-20.