On Sep 4, 2009, at 11:19 AM, Clark Martin wrote:
>> >> "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." >> -- Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment >> Corp., 1977 > > You gotta really hand it to Ken Olson there for being such a > visionary. > :) At least the others had little data to work on. > You also have to realize that in 1977 'a computer in your home' <http://oldcomputers.net/altair.html > couldn't do a whole lot, and Ken was selling systems the size of a refrigerator. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pdp-11-40.jpg> which were known as 'minicomputers'. A 'computer' to Olson, meant one of these <http://www.the-adam.com/adam/rantrave/ibm_360.jpg >. Even the Apple II (introduced in 1977) really couldn't do much in 1977. It wasn't until Apple Writer and Visicalc were introduced in 1979 that personal computers really turned into something other than a hobbyists toy. There was Electric Pencil, which came out in 1976 and was the first electronic word processing program, but getting it working on the systems of the day was, shall we say, less than user- friendly. Visicalc didn't require you know how to do anything but plug things in and turn it on. -- Bruce Johnson University of Arizona College of Pharmacy Information Technology Group Institutions do not have opinions, merely customs --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to g3-5-list@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
