[cctalk] Re: First Personal Computer

When announced and sold new, were the SIMON, LINC and G-15 sold and described as, in the exact words, "personal computer"? Did the guy with multiple supercomputers in his basement buy them NEW, to use them for their designed purpose? If not they are just memorabilia, like a victrola. Somebody claimed the altair was the first time the actual words "personal computer" were used. If so, I would say that is the correct definition. Period. Final Answer, Regis. I cannot redefine my 8-core gaming machine with 3 NVIDIA cards as a "supercomputer" just because I want to and it has more memory and megaflops than some other device that historically was defined as a supercomputer. I cannot take 250 Radio Shack Color Computers and network them to cooperatively solve a single problem, and then call that a supercomputer, unless somebody did that when the computer was still being sold new (yes, I know there were "networks" for radio shack computers, but AFAIK they only let some number of students share resources from the central teacher's computer and in most or all cases could not talk directly to each other). specifically, like the altair, which seems to fit common usages of the words "personal" and "computer": "something sold NEW to private citizens, for personal enjoyment and not for gain" Granted some buyers hoped to develop software or hardware they could sell. Some may have had a day job in computers, but almost as likely might have been cooks or door-to-door bible salesmen (statistically not absolutely). Because ONE *developer* of the LINC used his position to take one home and use it the way we currently use "personal computers" does not mean EVERY OTHER LINC was also a personal computer. Did he pay the full street price? I'm guessing not. If you want to put a plaque on that single unit, fine, but I am sure other one-off home brew machines need to be included too. I think here were are talking about production machines available for sale to all. I remember seeing the original development unit for the Amdahl V6, made with descreet components and much larger (and slower) than the production models, which although it was nicknamed "Gene's machine", but that was NOT a personal computer, sorry. The ISA cards that anybody could buy to run S/370 operating systems in a PC should qualify, IMHO, but not 4331 level units. That is getting iffy, i'd like to see statistics on how many were purchased by schools and business for their employees to use AS LONG AS THEY REMAINED EMPLOYED, verses how many were purchased by individuals and run in their place of resident. I'm guessing at least 5% were sold to private individuals, and if anybody quibbles that is not enough, I am willing to not include them. I at least thought about buying one, perhaps there were ongoing license charges that ended that dream? I believe some obsolete warships (certainly ICBM silos) have been sold to private individuals. Does that retroactively mean the original warships and ICBMs are "personal yachts and weapons"? I'll bet one rich guy bought a Mississippi riverboat for personal use, does that make them *ALL* into "personal pleasure craft"? That is a slippery slope. <pre>--Carey</pre>