When we look back to the first personal computer – the Apple I – we do not see today’s machines. What we see is the beginning of the first great age of computers. The Apple I sparked other companies to start producing personal computers. For instance, Microsoft licensed a copy of its Windows operating system to IBM, which made the IBM PC. Then, you look at today and see iMacs, MacBooks, and PCs. How did we get from there to here?

Way back in the 1970’s, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak (“Woz”) started Apple Computer, Inc. The company produced many units of the new computer called Apple I. It sold without a case, keyboard, or screen – you had to buy your own. Soon, the company started to grow, and made its second computer, unsurprisingly called the Apple II. This machine became really popular.



Photo from cedmagic.com

Around this time, some new competition started filtering into the market – most notably, the IBM PC. It was cheap – which, of course, people loved. Then, Apple released a breakthrough in personal computers. Most certainly, the biggest new feature was the graphical user interface, where some kind of pointing device moves around and interacts with other objects on the screen. You guessed it: in 1984, Apple introduced the Macintosh.

Almost immediately, it gained lots of fame. But soon it lost its sparkle, it was under-powered and overpriced. Next, of course, Steve Jobs was fired from Apple. This left the door right open for Windows PC makers to become the top personal computer producers. Apple continued to decline, and Microsoft rose to be the king of the personal computer market.

As you may or may not know, Jobs went on to work at Pixar and NeXT.  Fast forward a while, and Apple bought NeXT, bringing Jobs back to Apple. He went on to rise to CEO and work with some amazing people to create some amazing products, like the iMac.

Well, there you have a basic history of personal computers. Ending, of course, with today’s powerful machines that we can’t live without. It’s an interesting story, one with ups and downs for both Apple and Microsoft.

But, as Steve Jobs liked to say, There’s One More Thing.

Well, rather, two more things: When someone says computer to you, you think of desktops and laptops, right? But a new great age of the personal computer is coming in: the post-PC era. That means things like tablets and smartphones.

Yeah, you read that right. Tablets and smartphones are personal computers. Well, think about it. People are starting to use those devices like they once did (and sometimes still do) use their computers.

So tablets and smartphones – they’re already the next era of the personal computer.

Are you ready for the next era of personal computers?

Related Stories
‹
High Score! My Take on Video Games
Video games. Those are the two favorite words of most kids. Your kids seemingly can sit in front of a Wii, Xbox, Nintendo DS, and so on, for the whole day. Now think back to the days when your weekends were spent with your nose in a book, at a soda fountain with your friends, […]
iPad 3rd Generation
Hi there! I’m Josh Leffler – the son of the person who writes the $avvy $pender column and the person who co-owns 1360/97.9 WCHL and Chapelboro.com. I’m 10 years old and, at this time, am going into fifth grade. I love sushi, Apple Inc., and Chapel Hill.   I’m a big technology fan, so I’ll […]
On the Porch: Steve Rao - Asian-American Leader
This Week: Steve Sandeep Rao, a native of Charleston WV, Steve serves as an At Large Council Member for the Town of Morrisville and served as Mayor Pro Tem from 2015-2017. He served as a Senior Business Development Executive at Alphanumeric Systems, a global tech company headquartered in Raleigh from January 2011 to May 2020 and now serves as Of Counsel and Adviser to State Federal Strategies, where he advises Technology Companies on State and Local Government Business Development Strategy. Council Member Rao is the longest serving Asian-American elected official in NC
Policy, Language and Tech: UNC's Angel Hsu Discusses Combating Climate Change
Angel Hsu is an associate professor in UNC’s environmental ecology program. She recently spoke with 97.9 The Hill about her work as the director of a data-driven envirolab and how technology can teach us more about combating climate change on a local government level. Check out highlights of the conversation below, which are lightly edited […]
‘Godfather of AI’ Leaves Google, Warns of Tech’s Dangers
Written by MATT O’BRIEN and WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS Sounding alarms about artificial intelligence has become a popular pastime in the ChatGPT era, taken up by high-profile figures as varied as industrialist Elon Musk, leftist intellectual Noam Chomsky and the 99-year-old retired statesman Henry Kissinger. But it’s the concerns of insiders in the AI research community that […]
Loneliness Poses Risks as Deadly as Smoking, Surgeon General Warns
Written by AMANDA SEITZ Widespread loneliness in the U.S. poses health risks as deadly as smoking a dozen cigarettes daily, costing the health industry billions of dollars annually, the U.S. surgeon general said Tuesday in declaring the latest public health epidemic. About half of U.S. adults say they’ve experienced loneliness, Dr. Vivek Murthy said in […]
China Seethes as US Chip Controls Threaten Tech Ambitions
Written by JOE McDONALD Furious at U.S. efforts that cut off access to technology to make advanced computer chips, China’s leaders appear to be struggling to figure out how to retaliate without hurting their own ambitions in telecoms, artificial intelligence and other industries. President Xi Jinping’s government sees the chips that are used in everything […]
Police Seize on COVID-19 Tech to Expand Global Surveillance
Written by GARANCE BURKE, JOSEF FEDERMAN, HUIZHONG WU, KRUTIKA PATHI and ROD McGUIRK Majd Ramlawi was serving coffee in Jerusalem’s Old City when a chilling text message appeared on his phone. “You have been spotted as having participated in acts of violence in the Al-Aqsa Mosque,” it read in Arabic. “We will hold you accountable.” […]
US Intel Warns China Could Dominate Advanced Technologies
Written by NOMAAN MERCHANT U.S. officials are issuing new warnings about China’s ambitions in artificial intelligence and a range of advanced technologies that could eventually give Beijing a decisive military edge and possible dominance over health care and other essential sectors in America. The warnings include a renewed effort to inform business executives, academics and local and […]
Scientists Hail Golden Age to Trace Bird Migration With Tech
Written by CHRISTINA LARSON A plump robin wearing a tiny metal backpack with an antenna hops around a suburban yard in Takoma Park, then plucks a cicada from the ground for a snack. Ecologist Emily Williams watches through binoculars from behind a bush. On this clear spring day, she’s snooping on his dating life. “Now I’m […]
›