Did x86 have a monopoly in the 80s to begin with? If there is any period when that was true it would be the 2000s or early 2010s.
> intended so they're not making an effective argument
To be fair I'm really struggling to somehow connect the "x86 monopoly in the late 80s" with the remainder of their comment (which certainly makes sense).
x86 didn't have a monopoly, but IBM PC clones were clearly what everyone was talking about and there the monopoly existed. There are lots of different also ran processors, some with good market share in some niche, but overall x86 was clearly on the volume winners track by 1985.
> but overall x86 was clearly on the volume winners track by 1985.
By that standard if we exclude mobile x86 has a much stronger monopoly these days than in 1985. Unless we exclude low end PCs like Apple II and Commodore 64.
In 1990 x86 had ~80%, Apple ~7%, Amiga ~4% (with the remainder going to lowend or niche PCs) so again not that different than today.
