> Even as late as 1978, an informed observer could still consider interest in personal computers to be exclusive to a self-limiting community of hobbyists
The Personal Computer became an accepted, even required business device when IBM launched their PC in 1981 --- at that point, w/ WordPerfect and Lotus 1-2-3 there was a standard set to which folks for the most part adhered --- going into a Compubiz? (blanking on the name) which sold Big-Blue to businesses was a lot different than going to an Apple reseller at that time, or earlier.
A vivid memory was being in a computer shop when a young accountant pulled up in his Trans Am and declared to the salesperson, "I need a Visicalc" --- once it was explained that this was a program for a computer and that one would be needed, the guy was set up with an order of basically one of everything in the store:
- Apple ][ w/ 80 column card and matching green monitor
- disk controller and dual disk drives
- 132 column printer
and of course a copy of Visicalc and a couple of books on using a PC all of which was then loaded up into his Trans Am and he drove off into the sunset --- always wondered how that worked out....
Probably worked out pretty well. I get the impression that people tried harder back then: stuff cost more and there was less help available. So, if you even attempted to jump in the deep end, you were committed.
In the late 80's/early 90's I was working for a little electronics manufacturer that also sold Color Computer software. I remember all the phone calls and letters asking for support and there was one lady in particular whose complete address I remembered because she wrote us so often, trying to get her Digitizer working. She was finally successful and pasted a scanned photo of her daughter in a cowboy hat into her final thank-you letter :-)
One of the lessons that stuck with me all these years is that quality of product documentation/ease of use is inversely proportional to the number of support calls I had to take.
> In the late 80's/early 90's I was working for a little electronics manufacturer that also sold Color Computer software. I remember all the phone calls and letters asking for support and there was one lady in particular whose complete address I remembered because she wrote us so often, trying to get her Digitizer working. She was finally successful and pasted a scanned photo of her daughter in a cowboy hat into her final thank-you letter :-)
That was really touching. Thank you for sharing.
“Computers aren’t the thing. They’re the thing that gets us to the thing.”
I don't think so. My dad worked for a consulting firm ("Big Eight" as they called it back then) in the early-mid 80s and as far as I can tell his job mainly involved slinging Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheets on PCs. PCs very quickly infiltrated business starting in the 80s and had already left the exclusive "community of hobbyists".
A vivid memory was being in a computer shop when a young accountant pulled up in his Trans Am and declared to the salesperson, "I need a Visicalc" --- once it was explained that this was a program for a computer and that one would be needed, the guy was set up with an order of basically one of everything in the store:
- Apple ][ w/ 80 column card and matching green monitor
- disk controller and dual disk drives
- 132 column printer
and of course a copy of Visicalc and a couple of books on using a PC all of which was then loaded up into his Trans Am and he drove off into the sunset --- always wondered how that worked out....