Donated by Dr. William D. Hann
Introduced August 1981
When you think of history, computers are not likely to jump into your mind. They are relatively new in the grand scheme of things, but the personal computer has now been around for about 30 years; the Apple II computer was released in 1977. This is the original IBM Personal Computer model, released in 1981 at a baseline price of $1565. The cell phone in your pocket likely exceeds its computational limitations. The PC’s keyboard alone weighs more than some of today’s notebook computers. The small monitor displays one vibrant color. Nevertheless, this piece of machinery is astounding in its impact, and that of its descendents, on American life over the past 30 years.
Despite the fact that it seems unimpressive today, the PC’s cultural impact was so great that Time Magazine’s 1982 Man of the Year was the computer. The article by Otto Friedrich says, “The ‘information revolution’ that futurists have long predicted has arrived, bringing with it the promise of dramatic changes in the way people live and work, perhaps even in the way they think.” While this prediction proved accurate, another one did not. Friedrich dismisses video games, now a massive industry, as “a teen-age fad, doomed to go the way of Rubik’s Cube and the Hula Hoop.” The computing lifestyle was different back then, too. Time’s article cites numerous examples of people writing their own programs for word processing, language learning and other utilities. Today, programs are almost exclusively produced commercially or for common use, and individuals rarely need to write their own.
Since 1981, computers have gotten smaller, prettier and faster. The IBM PC shows the humble, yet still impressive, roots of personal computing.
http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/history/decade_1980.html
http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/personoftheyear/archive/stories/1982.html
*Post prepared by Ben Heili, WCHC Student Intern.
Editor's Note: I actually had this model of computer. It had no mouse, no hard drive, no sound (other than a beep), and the display was a lovely shade of green. And things like a CD-ROM? Not quite. It did have two floppy disk drives though!
Collecting "recent history" items is something that the WCHC has been paying closer attention to. It is much easier to collect recent history items now, when they are still readily available (and in good condition), then it would be to try and track an item like this down 50 years from now.
-Randy Brown
