[nl]

I don't think punched tape or punched card was ever used for a personal computer though.

The Altair launched with a cassette tape interface anyway.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altair_8800

[noizejoy]

Fair enough, but would it be fair to argue that personal computer is a pricing distinction, rather than a technology distinction?

In my mental model, the technology distinction is more between single user and multi-user systems. And arguably that is more a a software differentiator than a hardware difference.