You needed a video card of some kind. You can stick multiple PCI cards in one PC just fine, alongside one AGP card. And this is the time when the usual gaming video card had a whooping 32-64Mb of RAM. There is absolutely no reason a computer can be limited in amount of displays it can drive. And if 20+ y/o PCs could drive multiple monitors there is no reason the top notch tech company couldn't do that.
> You're making a false comparison
No, you are just trying to justify the greedy corporation habits.
> Once again they clearly made tradeoffs
No, they segmented their products and their fanbois are not only drunk their koolaid but eagerly defend it too.