Re: Product Activation (Garmin)

From: Ed Seedhouse (eseedhouse_at_shaw.ca)
Date: 01/16/05 

Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2005 18:37:10 GMT

On Sun, 16 Jan 2005 09:07:02 -0800, Peter <prathman@comcast.net>
wrote:

>> IBM defined the term.
>
>The term "personal computer" was first used in an ad for the HP 9100A
>in the Oct. 4, 1968 issue of Science. It was also widely used in
>describing a variety of home computers by Byte magazine starting in
>1976. IBM was the first that I know of to capitilize the term and use
>it as product name, but it was in pretty widespread use well before
>they did so.

There were dozens of "personal computers" before IBM put out the "IBM
Personal Computer". The "killer app" for the PC had already come
along too - namely "Visicalc" and the words "personal computer" were
in common use. The IBM machine made it respectable for businessmen to
have one in their office because it came from IBM.

Anyone who thinks that IBM created the personal computer either wasn't
around at the time like I was, or completely uninterested in history
or illiterate or possibly all of the above. :-)

Ed

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