You see, we are back to my original comment. The definition of Personal
Computer is quite fluid. Does it have to be called a Personal Computer
in advertising literature or does any computer that can be used by a
single person, in any environment, constitute a personal computer.
If i am writing the definition than my original comment that the
Antikythera Mechanism is the first computing device designed to be used
by a single person..
To someone else the Altiar is the first personal computer. And to yet,
someone else an early PDP or HP computer might be the first personal
computer.
There are many mechanical and later analog computing devices in use long
before the modern digital computer. What about the Hollerith Machine
used to count the census from the 1890's to the 1950's. It was a one
person calculating machine but since it was used for commercial purposes
does that make it a personal computer. When IBM initially released the
first PC it was intended not for home use but for business use (for
$10,000 1980's dollars). The Northstar Horizon was also marketed as a
business computer but used by home S-100 hobbyists.
The point, as I stated earlier, is that for every different definition
we will find a different result.
I guess this means that the definition of personal computer is personal😛
This is written with tongue firmly implanted in cheek.
On 5/25/2024 1:27 PM, Jon Elson via cctalk wrote:
On 5/25/24 13:05, CAREY SCHUG via cctalk wrote:
When announced and sold new, were the SIMON, LINC and G-15 sold and
described as, in the exact words, "personal computer"? Did the guy
with multiple supercomputers in his basement buy them NEW, to use
them for their designed purpose? If not they are just memorabilia,
like a victrola.
The Bendix G-15 came out in 1956! It cost about $60,000 in 1956
Dollars. The first LINC machines were built at an MIT summer school
by grad students who would then take them back to their home
institutions and use then in biomedical research labs. The LINCs in
this case cost about $50K, and were built starting in 1961-62. The
term "personal computer" was not coined until a LONG time after.
Jon
