Upgrading and Repairing PCs, 22nd Edition

Chapter 12. Audio Hardware

Although rudimentary audio capabilities were part of the original IBM PC of 1981 and its many successors, audio was used on early computers for troubleshooting rather than for creative tasks. The original IBM PC and compatible systems of the early to mid-1980s had rudimentary sound capabilities, consisting mainly of the ability to generate crude tones or beeps. PCs did not gain true audio capabilities until the first add-on sound cards from companies such as AdLib and Creative Labs were developed in the late 1980s.

Thanks to competition among many companies, we now enjoy widely supported hardware and software standards for audio. Audio hardware has gone from being an expensive, exotic add-on to being an industry standard ...