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.
I totally agree that personal computers have changed life as we know it. I am on my computer all the time, and I do not know what I would do without it. The internet, in my opinion was the largest transformation of these computers, and have provided many ways in which to communicate( through email, blogs, SNS, etc). I thought it was interesting that in just ten years, the adoption rates of owning a computer went up ten percent. I agree that computers are a social and economic issue, but PC’s have come down in price so much, that I attribute the main reason for not having a computer is culture related or countries that are underdeveloped.
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I agree with both of you in regards to the necessity of the personal computer. I have had a personal computer since a young age and purchased my first laptop about a year ago. While I love feeling connected, it feels like it has gone too far in some aspects. While I am interested in future innovations and the prospects of the Tablet taking over personal computers. Adoption is at an all time high, people have more than one, like in my case, and it attributes to the fact that now we are more connected through facebook and the internet then ever before. I hope all people have computers around the world, because it is important to keep connected. And in some aspects is important to fuel the economy by making the workplace more efficient. I hope that through future innovations we can increase efficiency, increase economic growth, and increase the level of connectedness around the world with out compromising privacy.
ReplyDeleteScott.1028
Nice job on the article. It's pretty amazing how much we depend on computers today isn't it? I truly could not imagine not having one, we do everything on it! I also would want to physically see one of those PCs that were as big as a refrigerator, as I can not believe they were actually that large. That just goes to show how far technology has advanced in a relatively short time frame. As far as PC penetration in U.S. households, I only see that number going up. With the advancement of tablets I feel that PCs and laptops will come down in price and have special technology to compete with the tablets. Lowering prices on both making both more attainable
ReplyDeletemishler.11