Dutch company PHI DATA yesterday received a € 18,000 prize from Intel, HP and Dutch IT weekly Computable for still owning and operating a vintage IBM 5160 (Intel 8088) computer from 1983. PHI Data uses the IBM to test matrix printers. It is now officialy the oldest obsolete-yet-active PC in the Low Countries.
HP and Intel started the contest to show that companies should keep current with their technology needs. Because of the recession ,most companies haven"t upgraded their systems since 1999. The contest was attended by more than 70 companies. One company claimed it was still doing accounting on an old eighties PC.
Although HP and Intel rewarded the company with five brand new HP computers containing speedy Pentium 4 processors, PHI DATA will not put the old IBM to sleep. No one knows how many old desktops are still out there chugging away, but Apple IIs, Commodore 64s and first-generation IBM PCs are still popular, mostly with enthusiasts. When Dell ran a contest in the USA back in 1999 for the oldest small-business PC still in use, the winner was the Altair 8800b.