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When the chipmakers realized the things that the hobbyists were doing could lead to this whole new kind of product called a personal computer. >> it was at a home-grown computer club where steve wozniak and steve jobs first displayed the computer they'd been working on. and it caused a sensation. >> we had absolutely no idea what people were going to do to these things when we started out. as a matter of fact, the two people who it was designed for was woz and myself, because we couldn't afford to buy a computer kit on the market. we got it working and showed it to some of our friends. and of ...

>> for all you hear about friendly, they aren't really, except for playing pac man. >> a small snag in computer marketing is called technophobia. fear of these bloodless little wizards. the manufacturers are trying to overcome it by making them what they call user-friendly. >> isn't that pretty? now what do i do? >> making computers easy enough to use for a beginner, it wasn't always true. people had never encountered this stuff. >> hold down shift and press -- >> so there was a great disconnect between the ambitions of the apples and microsofts and the realities of people trying to use these ...

Things move very quickly in the industry, and it was really the urgency to get out there and be the first one to put a basic on the microcomputer that caust caused me to drop out. >> if you don't have one, you will be amazed what these little gadgets can do. >> the idea was that ordinary people might have a use for computers. now, it took a while to figure out what those uses might be. >> the main thing was spreadsheets and word processing. the computer was the best typewriter you could ever have. it gave you a new way to write. you could change things around. and check your spelling. it would...

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 the average american thought computer, they thought ibm. it made these mainframe computers that ran pretty much everything. >> ibm was one of the most powerfu...

You a lit bit more about the system. >> here at the west coast computer fair, the speed of development in this industry so is great that each fair virtually outdates the previous one. >> whether 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 getting serious when the competition started. because when you have competition, innovation gets stimulated. >> compaq. atari home computer. >> kaypro gives you the com...