Not sure what you mean by "the machines were real." I wasn't suggesting that the IBM PC never existed. I was acknowledging that there are varying 'levels' of emulation. This one requires ROMs.
Follow up: I couldn't figure out exactly why this bugged me so I looked up and found this grammar rule around quoting.
https://writing-center.phsc.edu/grammar/punctuation/quotatio...
Be aware of prescriptivism vs. descriptivism in your research.
I’m done belaboring this. Have a nice day.