[whobre]

I remember how computer enthusiasts had hard time explaining to “regular” people what personal computers were good for. They would often mention things like cooking recipes and balancing checkbooks which really was not convincing at all…

[musicale]

> The first TRS-80 ad was similarly scattershot, promising to be everything to everyone: “[p]rogram it to handle your personal finances, small business accounting, teaching functions, kitchen computations, innumerable games

Innumerable games sounds very compelling (though the Apple II was more solidly in the video game system business with support for color graphics and game controllers; but Apple's Mac later yielded many nice black-and-white games, aided by the Mac's sharp, though tiny, display.)

Nice article though showing a spreadsheet (two versions of VisiCalc), two word processors (Electric Pencil and WordStar - of George R.R. Martin fame), and not just games (MicroChess) but a rather interesting, if primitive, abstract animation program (Electric Paintbrush).

Digital art/creativity is I think an underappreciated application area for computers, though programs like {Mac,MS,Deluxe}Paint etc. and Photoshop were milestones, and demoscene software formed its own art practice and culture. Processing is perhaps a modern heir to Electric Paintbrush.