IBM Ends PCjr "Marketing"
Will Make Parts 5 More Years

	IBM has announced that it is no longer marketing PCjrs. This may not sound like startling news, but it’s a milestone of sorts in PCjr history so we thought we’d tell you about it. 
	If you’re interested in statistics, the official date was January 24, 1989. That’s the date IBM officially ceased marketing the PCjr. The key word here is "marketing"-- you’ll see why in a minute. 
	Another date in PCjr history is March 19, 1985. That’s when IBM announced a halt to production of PCjrs. A month after PCjr production stopped, IBM took out ads in publications across the country promising to support PCjrs. The ad quoted Mark Twain, whose famous ragamuffin Tom Sawyer was thought to have drowned. "Rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated," he said upon returning to his home town alive and well. The IBM ad used this quotation in reference to the PCjr, and followed up this quotation by stating, "If you own a PCjr you can be sure it is still a well-cared for member of the IBM PC family." 
	What happened is that PCjrs became well-cared for (and well-loved) members of computing families across the country. An estimated 4-500,000 of them. But once IBM stopped making them, the little computer we’ve come to know and love so well disappeared from the pages of computer magazines. That’s because the main concern of the major computer publications is to sell new computers for their advertisers. So they acted as though all the PCjrs had suddenly vaporized. In fact, hundreds of thousands of them were, and still are, in use. As you know from reading this newsletter every month, the PCjr is alive and well in many homes and businesses across the country. That’s because PCjr users learned how to upgrade their computers so they can run over 90% of the software on the market today. 
5 More Years for Parts
	Perhaps IBM realizes that many of their orphaned computers are still in use, because the company seems to be keeping its promise, also made in that Mark Twain ad, to provide PCjr parts for five years. Don’t worry, that didn’t mean five years from the date of that ad. 
	An IBM spokesman told jr Newsletter, the five years would begin when they withdrew PCjrs from "marketing". That means PCjr parts will be provided by IBM until January 24, 1994, if IBM keeps its word.
	We checked with the IBM Parts Order Center in Boulder, Colorado, and found they do have PCjr parts for sale. You can, for instance, get a new PCjr system board (Part# 8654225) for $342, less $112 for your old system board. The number to call if you need a replacement part is (303) 924-4100. You must have the part number when you call. Part numbers are listed in Section 6 of the PCjr Hardware Maintenance and Service manual. If you’re not a do-it-yourselfer or your local computer repair shop won’t work on your PCjr, you can contact one of the advertisers in this newsletter, many of whom specialize in repairing PCjrs.
	Although IBM has continues to provide PCjr parts, as of February 24, it stopped providing live support on its PCjr Hotline. If you call it now, you will get a recorded announcement telling you to call an 800 number to find your nearest authorized IBM dealer. The recording also gives the number for the Parts Order Center and lists a few PCjr support companies, including several of the ones who advertise in this newsletter. As for help with software, the announcement says "software support should be obtained from the manufacturer." They mean the publisher of the software. The reason IBM gives for discontinuing the PCjr Hotline is that it was established to provide setup assistance to those who purchased PCjrs from IBM authorized dealers. With that limited purpose in mind, it’s a wonder IBM continued the hotline as long as they did.