On 23 Apr 99 at 16:21, Merle K. Peirce wrote:
>
> Just a couple of stray thoughts. While a person could possibly have
> purchased a $300 computer in the 50's, why would they? What could they
> have done with it? The answer is almost nothing. The only people who
> might have been interested would have been ham radio or electronics
> hobbysists, and they would very likely have built there own. I don't
> even believe there was a viable used market for low cost computers in
> the 50's, they would all have been enormous mainframes.
>
> To make things a bit more difficult, I believe "personal computer" is a
> term that invites trouble. It seems so simple, but when you look at it,
> you see that it means ANY computer put to personal use. If you have an
> old 360 in the garage you use to balqnce your chequebook, this qualifies
> as a personal computer. The term is very open ended and any attempt to
> limit it by a specialised definition will likely result in gibberish. A
> new term will need to be chosen, especially for earlier, small
> individually used pieces of equipment, which is what we are trying to
> quantify.
>
The ham radio or electronic hobbyist would have been more likely building a TV
or adapting tube technology to solid state.
Another aspect that hasn't been addressed is the change from leased to bought
outright. Many mini's were still leased at this time as well as software. This
would impact on even the concept of a "personal" computer as well as the
problem of what you would do with it.
ciao larry
lwalker_at_interlog.com
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Received on Fri Apr 23 1999 - 17:37:14 BST