PC takes “Person of the Year” Award

WAY BACK, and I mean way-the-heck back in Computer Time: 1982 Media coverage of computer technology was still science fiction to most Americans. Reading the specs of a dinosaur PC is testament to the patience of those souls who were pioneering with those early PCs.

Read this: PCs go Mainstream. Published in Wired, Time Magazine named the personal computer its person of the year 25 years ago today. The article, which we found on Wired, is an entertaining reminder of how computers have changed the way we live and do business. Be grateful for what we’ve got! I guess!

State of the art IBM PC, circa: 1982
Computers were more than a fad, they were the rage.

PC sales hit 2.8 million, double 1981’s 1.4 million, and quadruple the 724,000 in 1980. The article is fun to read as a reminder of what we now take for granted. Do you remember 14.4 K dial-up modems? The article also talks of “a way to transmit messages by connecting a telephone to a PC,” the introduction of “e-mail”. Something your grand mother is most likely using today!

Here’s a link to the PC sales 25-year Anniversary Stats.

In 2006 InfoWorld report was not good for PC vendors, moving 66 million units in the US, 163 million in the rest of the World. Has technology topped out? I believe the average person has enough computer on their desk to do most anything. How much processing power do most users need? That’s as individual as shoe size.

Who wouldn’t like a shinny new machine? But I have a good friend who still runs Windows 2000, MicroSoft does offer a massive support site for every OS. Typically, I don’t suggest any upgrade until it is seemingly necessary. I want to be sure it works before putting my workstation at risk.

No doubt, PCs are a big part of our lives. My wife’s hair curlers have a computer chip! What happens if the power goes off someday? Could you manage without a computer? Without the Internet? I admit trying to turn on the ceiling fan during a blackout. I’m hooked on things that require power. We’re all hooked - to various degrees, so we should all take responsible measures to conserve natural resources so they might be available for not just hundreds, but thousands of years.

We can all do our part to conserve, do no harm, and enjoy life. Happy New Year!

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