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>> there was a drastic mindset change in the whole country about what a computer was. and happened over a very short period of time. >> gather around and we'll tell you a lit bit more about the system. >> here at the west coast computer fair, the speed of development in this industry is so great that each fair virtually outdates the previous one. >> when it is lower prices that have helped the tremendous boom in home computer sales, about one home in ten will have a computer by the end of this year. by 1990, the number could be two out of three. >> we knew that the personal computer was gettin...

Smart machines. >> companies that were starting to build personal computers, companies like atari, tandy, commodore, apple began to see them as a home market. and it was starting to seep into the public consciousness. >> personal computers have become the business of at least 25 manufacturers, with three companies -- radio shack, apple, and commodore -- grabbing three-quarters of the market. this personal computer costs about $1,400 and fits nicely on a desk corner. duplicating its performance five years ago would have cost $75,000 and involve the unit the size of a large refrigerator. >> when...

Technology. >> one of the striking things about the development of especially hardware during the 1980s was the fact that it was getting so much more powerful, so rapidly, that there developed a strong tendency on the part of people who were about to buy a computer, should i buy the computer today? no, in fact, if i wait six months, for the same money i can get twice the computer. >> the reason we are attracted to computers is it is a power tool that gives me power that i feel i should have had, but nature left me without. and i can now exploit more of my potential with a computer.

There was a lot of counterculture people. so you had cheap semiconductors. you had people that would look at things differently than what the conventional person was, and that's what the technology needed then. >> one of the things that was really hard about making a computer was now on a chip. so all of a sudden, people who had a thirst for this stuff could go out and buy a home brew computer. you could make them yourself. >> there was a lot of this kind of revolutionary thing with a lot of the technical people who were into the changes in technology and how we were a part of it. even though ...

People are fundamentally, naturally, mobile. >> i like to say the technology will go from a phone in the car to a phone in the briefcase to finally a phone in your pocket. >> and this is it. this is a portable cellular phone. you'll be able to take this to any american city and call virtually any place in the world, and its maker, motorola, says a smaller version than this will be on the market next year. >> your first cell phones look like soviet army field telephones. these huge lunch boxes you hold up to your head. >> this is just the birth of this industry. all inventions start out in a ve...