Editing Computer tower (section)

==History==
[[File:Ibm pc 5150.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|The horizontally configured system unit of the original [[IBM Personal Computer|IBM PC]] set a ''de facto'' standard for the physical setup of personal computers from the early 1980s to the mid-1990s.]]
The tower form factor may be seen as a proportional miniaturization of [[mainframe computer]]s and [[minicomputer]]s, some of which comprise massive tall enclosures standing almost to the ceiling.<ref>{{cite book | last=Chambers | first=Mark L. | date=2011 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6dz1oA7SKg4C&pg=PA46 | title=Building a PC for Dummies | publisher=Wiley | page=46 | isbn=9781118084823 | via=Google Books}}</ref> In the advent of the [[microcomputer]] era, most systems were configured with the [[Keyboard computer|keyboard built into the same chassis]] that the main system [[circuit board]] resides. Such computers were also termed ''[[home computer]]s'' and counted such popular systems as the [[Apple II]], [[TRS-80]], [[VIC-20]], and [[Commodore 64]], among others. In 1981, IBM introduced the [[IBM Personal Computer]], a system which was met widespread adoption in both enterprises and home businesses within a couple years and set a new ''de facto'' standard for the physical configuration of microcomputers. The IBM PC and successors housed the system board and [[expansion card]]s in a separate horizontal unit, with the keyboard usually in front and the prescribed [[Cathode-ray tube|CRT]] monitor resting on top of the system unit; the front of the system unit houses one or more disk drives.<ref name=hackaday>{{cite journal | last=Benchoff | first=Brian | date=February 16, 2018 | url=https://hackaday.com/2018/02/16/whatever-happened-to-the-desktop-computer/ | title=Whatever Happened to the Desktop Computer? | journal=Hackaday | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216160111/https://hackaday.com/2018/02/16/whatever-happened-to-the-desktop-computer/ | archivedate=February 16, 2018}}</ref>

In 1982, [[NCR Corporation|NCR]] introduced the Tower series of [[workstation]] computers, named so for their tall, upright configuration, intended to be stowed away under a desk. The first, the Tower 1632, is 29 inches tall and featured a [[Motorola 68000]] microprocessor. Costing upwards of $12,500, the 1632 is meant to run [[Unix]] and supports up to 16 simultaneous networked users.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=December 13, 1982 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GzAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA60 | title=Hardware News: New systems | journal=InfoWorld | publisher=CW Communications | volume=4 | issue=49 | page=60 | via=Google Books}}</ref> NCR continued adding to the Tower line into the late 1980s.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Henkel | first=Tom | date=February 20, 1984 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5pw6ePUC8YYC&pg=PA6 | title=NCR brings out Cobol-oriented supermicro | journal=Computerworld | publisher=CW Communications | volume=XVIII | issue=8 | page=6 | via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last=Chabal | first=Priscilla M. | date=October 13, 1986 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pDwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA5 | title=NCR Introduces Unix-Based 32-Bit to Fill Out Tower Supermicro Family | journal=InfoWorld | publisher=CW Communications | volume=8 | issue=41 | page=5 | via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last=Warner | first=Edward | date=March 9, 1987 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zzAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA17 | title=NCR Adds 32-Bit Unix Machine to Tower Line | journal=InfoWorld | publisher=CW Communications | volume=9 | issue=10 | page=17 | via=Google Books}}</ref>

In 1983, [[Tandy Corporation]] offered their [[Tandy 2000]] with an optional floor stand, turning the normally horizontal desktop case on its side and allowing it to be stashed under-desk; the square badge on the Tandy 2000 can be removed and rotated upright in turn.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Mace | first=Scott | date=December 12, 1983 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5i8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA23 | title=Tandy unveils MS-DOS micro with 80186 chip | journal=InfoWorld | publisher=CW Communications | volume=5 | issue=50 | pages=19–23 | via=Google Books}}</ref> IBM followed suit with their [[IBM Personal Computer/AT|PC/AT]] in 1984, which included an optional "floor-standing enclosure" for $165.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=August 20, 1984 | url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A570207/GPS?sid=wikipedia | title=IBM Introduces PC AT Adv. Technology | journal=Electronic News | publisher=Sage Publications | volume=30 | issue=1511 | page=21 | via=Gale}}</ref> Of the three initial entrants in the company's [[IBM RT PC|RT PC]] line in 1986, two were tower units, while the other was a traditional horizontal case like the AT and the PCs before it.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=July 21, 1986 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yi8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA44 | title=Add-On Hard Disk Drives Introduced for IBM RT PC | journal=InfoWorld | publisher=CW Communications | volume=8 | issue=29 | page=44 | via=Google Books}}</ref>
[[File:DeuxPS2.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|An IBM [[IBM PS/2 Model 60|PS/2 Model 60]] ''(left)'' and an [[IBM PS/2 Model 80|PS/2 Model 80]] ''(right)'' side by side. These models were IBM's first Intel-based PCs built in a tower form factor.]]
In 1987, IBM introduced the [[IBM PS/2 Model 60|PS/2 Model 60]], an initial entry in the company's [[IBM PS/2|Personal System/2]] line of personal computers. It was IBM's first Intel-based PC built entirely into a tower case.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Rosch | first=Winn L. | date=July 1987 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LRBokcwLB70C&pg=PA136 | title=IBM Personal System/2 Model 60 | journal=PC Magazine | publisher=Ziff-Davis | volume= | issue= | pages=136–148 | via=Google Books}}</ref> The PS/2 Model 60 was comparable in technical specification to its sibling the [[IBM PS/2 Model 50|PS/2 Model 50]], which sported a horizontal desktop form factor. Whereas the Model 50 had only four expansion slots and three drive bays, however, the Model 60 featured eight expansion slots and four drive bays. Because of the latter's increased potential for connectivity and multitasking, technology journalists envisioned the PS/2 Model 60 as a multiuser machine, although multiuser operating systems supporting the [[Intel 80286|80286]] processor of both the Models 50 and 60 were hard to come by in 1987.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Lewis | first=Peter H. | date=September 15, 1987 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/15/science/personal-computers-ibm-leaps-from-desk-to-floor.html | title=I.B.M. Leaps from Desk to Floor | journal=The New York Times | page=C4 | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524212854/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/15/science/personal-computers-ibm-leaps-from-desk-to-floor.html | archivedate=May 24, 2015}}</ref> IBM followed up with the tower-based [[IBM PS/2 Model 80|PS/2 Model 80]] later that year, their first PC powered by an [[Intel 80386|i386]] processor.<ref name=model80>{{cite journal | last=LaPlante | first=Alice | date=August 10, 1987 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yDsEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PP1 | title=New Model 80 Offers 314MB Disk | journal=InfoWorld | publisher=IDB Publications | volume=9 | issue=32 | pages=1, 89 | via=Google Books}}</ref>

According to ''[[The New York Times]]'' in 1988, the PS/2 Models 60 and 80 started the trend of computer manufacturers offering [[IBM PC compatible]]s in optional tower form factors:

{{quote|text=A countertrend is to take PCs off the desk and put them on the floor. IBM started it with the tower configuration for its PS/2 Models 60 and 80, and at least a dozen companies were showing floor-standing PCs at [[COMDEX|Comdex]]. Freed from the need to fit on a desk, some of the tower models are actually getting bigger to accommodate large disk drives, a variety of floppy drives and backup devices, and room for up to a dozen slots for plug-in boards.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Lewis | first=Peter H. | date=May 24, 1988 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/24/science/personal-computers-pc-s-on-a-target-range.html | title=PC's on a Target Range | journal=The New York Times | page=C10 | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150525092951/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/24/science/personal-computers-pc-s-on-a-target-range.html | archivedate=May 25, 2015}}</ref>}}

Aftermarket floor stands, allowing existing horizontal desktop computers to be stored upright on the floor, were sold in the late 1980s by companies such as [[Curtis Computer Products]].<ref name=":0" /> Recommending such kits in ''[[The Washington Post]]'' in 1989, Brit Hume called the tower the best configuration for ergonomics and noted that, "Contrary to popular myth, standing vertically will not hurt the computer or throw off your disk drives."<ref name=":0">{{cite news | last=Hume | first=Brit | date=September 4, 1989 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1989/09/04/incorporating-ergonomics-into-your-computer-workstation/b2a4d4fd-e6a5-4189-97cc-06ff25697610/ | title=Incorporating Ergonomics into Your Computer Workstation | newspaper=The Washington Post | page=F13 | archiveurl=https://archive.today/20221123192603/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1989/09/04/incorporating-ergonomics-into-your-computer-workstation/b2a4d4fd-e6a5-4189-97cc-06ff25697610/ | archivedate=November 23, 2022 | url-status=live}}</ref>

The transition in dominance from horizontal desktop computers to towers was mostly complete by 1994, according to a period article in ''[[PC Week]]''.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Dennen | first=Ed | date=July 18, 1994 | url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A15582553/GPS?sid=wikipedia | title=How can it be a desktop if it isn't on top of the desk? | journal=PC Week | publisher=Ziff-Davis | volume=11 | issue=28 | page=69 | via=Gale}}</ref> Computer cases or pre-built systems offered in the traditional horizontal form factor have since been separately categorized as ''desktops'', to contrast them with the usually-floor-situated towers.<ref name=Prowse2015 />

Brian Benchoff of ''[[Hackaday]]'' argued that the popularity of the [[Macintosh Quadra 700]] was the turning point for computer manufacturers to move over to the tower form factor en masse. The tower form factor of the Quadra 700 was by necessity: common peripherals of the Quadra were the relatively extremely heavy color CRT [[Apple displays|monitors offered by Apple]] (those whose screens measured 20 inches and over diagonally could weigh 80&nbsp;lbs or more) favored by the [[desktop publishing]] industry during the 1990s. Such monitors threatened to crush the plastic frames of the [[Macintosh IIcx]] and [[Macintosh IIci]]; customers might have been tempted to fit such heavy monitors atop the IIcx and IIci because of their horizontal form factor.<ref name=hackaday />