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The Rise of the Personal Computer
How personal computers grew from 1970s hobbyist kits into ordinary household and office machines by the 1990s, and which pieces made that shift possible.
Machines and Interfaces
Personal Computers
How microprocessors and hobby kits led to computers at home.
The Development of the First Personal Computer: A Look Back
Why there is no single first personal computer: how 1970s hobbyist kits and early microcomputers gradually turned computing into something individuals could own.
The History of the IBM PC and Its Lasting Legacy
How IBM's 1981 personal computer used an open, parts-based design that invited compatible machines and shaped the desktop computer market for decades.
The Impact of the Apple I on the Computer Industry
The Apple I was a small 1970s hobbyist computer sold in tiny numbers. This article weighs its modest direct effect against its later symbolic importance.
The Impact of the Microprocessor on Computing
How putting a computer's processor on a single chip in the early 1970s made small, inexpensive computers possible, and what that did and did not change.
The Impact of the Personal Computer on Society
How home computing and desktop machines in offices changed work, play and learning from the 1980s onward, and why access stayed uneven across groups and countries.
Related topics
More in machines and interfaces
Hardware and Systems From vacuum tubes to chips: the machines and the system software that ran them. Interfaces and Input How people came to talk to computers through keyboards, mice and screens. Early Machines ENIAC, early electronic and commercial computers, and the mainframe era. Mobile Computing Laptops, phones and handheld devices. Storage and Displays The media that held data and the screens that showed it, from cards to flash.