The Personal Computer has completely revolutionized technology as we know it today. PC’s eliminate paperwork, conduct sophisticated calculations, keep track of inventory, function as a mass communication medium, engage in efficiency improvement through quality management, coordinate numerous departments and corporate branches across the globe. Personal Computers are an essential part of modern business and represent an indispensable part of the modern society.
Personal Computers, otherwise known as PCs were introduced in the early 1970’s. These early models were the nearly the size of a refrigerator and far too expensive for the average household. According to class lecture, in 1975 the Altair 8800 was introduced as the first affordable home PC. However, because of its lack of keyboard/mouse, monitor and most importantly software it was merely useless. Bill Gates and Paul Allen made a basic symbolic instruction code; this was the first Micro-soft project. They later created Microsoft Disk Operating System (MS-DOC) a text based interface. Xerox was the first Graphical User Interface (GUI) but was never released commercially. The first GUI for a home PC was the Apple Lisa by Apple Inc. According to Carolyn A. Lin’s article “Exploring Personal Computer Adoption” PCs have undergone several major transformations during the past decade. They are equipped to function as a mass communication medium when used in a multimedia mode and with the Internet/World Wide Web environment. Other developments in PC technology such as PC-TV, Web TV, satellite-to-PC, and interactive cable television are all examples of alluring, newly converged PC/media technology entrees in the information age (Lin, 1998).
According to class lecture basic PCs consist of both hardware and software. Hardware is made of the central processing unit, memory, input and an output device. Software is a set of instructions that dictates how the software manipulates data. The Motherboard of a PC which holds all primary integrated circuit chips. It consists of CPU, PCI, RAM, Interface Drivers, BIOS and older slots. An important detail discussed in class lecture was that without software a computer is practically useless.
As previously discussed in class, the PC in 2003 had 70% US household penetration however, today 80% of households have more than one PC. According to Lin’s article written in 1998 PC adoption rate was 37% in early 1997, the adoption curve is projected to grow markedly by the end of the decade. The larger issue concerning adoption of PC technology, then, is both a cultural and an economic one. As the PC's potential to provide mass communication and advertising as well as information utilities expands, the implications of its future development on the print, broadcast, and cable television industries are of great interest to society (Lin, 1998). Today PCs have surpassed all previous assumptions and speculation and continue to develop.
Lin, C.A. (1998). Exploring personal computer adoption dynamics. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 18, 95.
