[Ack]

Even funnier is that originally IBM forcasted its total PC sales to 200,000 units. Then again, having been subjected to numerous technology forcasts and road maps that accuracy is about on par.

I've no love of Microsoft, but I don't think the computer industry would have advanced anywhere near as fast without them. They pretty much established a uniform standard for PCs everywhere. It has been my observation that an industry is prohibited from advancement until a single standard is agreed upon. Either this occurs through mutual agreement or competition.

Think VHS vs Betamax. The VCR didn't really take off until Sony established VHS as the dominate format. You'll find numerous other examples where a market was stagnated due to competing formats. Off hand I can think of:

US Cellular Phones (CDMA, TDMA, GSM, Irridium...)
Asia and Europe with a single standard are much further ahead in technology.

Wireless (Bluetooth and that other IEEE standard)
Neither have been able to gain much foothold.

High Efficiency Cars
Hydrogen vs Electric vs Hybrid vs Gas
There are numerous technical difficulties to be surmounted on this one.

Electricity (AC, DC)
Edison vs Tesla (I think)