Subject: The very first personal computers - How many are left?

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri Apr 11 13:31:00 2003

I think of a personal computer as one that was owned by an individual for use 
in a home. The same computer could also be used in a commercial setting but 
these computers were often in homes.

In 1979 I had about six HP 9825 calculators in my basement. These “calculators” 
were great computers but they cost many time more than my SWTPC 6800 system 
did. (I was setting up a contract project so these 9825 were just rented. There 
was over $100,000 worth of rented equipment in the house.) Even though I had a 
HP 9825 in my home I don’t think of it as a “personal computer”.

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Michael Holley
[email-masked]
www.swtpc.com/mholley
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From: [email-masked] (Tony Duell)
Date: Fri Apr 11 17:04:00 2003

> these computers were often in homes.

OK... 

Is the IBM 5100 a 'personal computer' by your definition? I would guess not.

My comment is really that the HP 9830 and IBM 5100 are similar in many 
ways. If one is a 'personal computer' then so is the other.

-tony