1 Nov
1998
1 Nov
'98
8:25 a.m.
I know perfectly well the accepted definition of personal computer but,
language is as much subjective as objective. So, though society may
subscribe to a specific definition, there is no reason to assume that
all persons of that society also agree to subscribe. After all, this is not
France, and we have no national language police. Nevertheless, your
point is well taken.
William R. Buckley
-----Original Message-----
From: Doug Yowza <yowza(a)yowza.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Sunday, November 01, 1998 1:48 PM
Subject: Re: definition of personal computer
> For me, a
personal computer is defined as any computer that I own
> and operate.
Is it time again for our weekly semantics game already? OK!
Personal Computer: a computer small enough for one person to easily
transport, cheap enough for one person to easily afford, and simple enough
for one person to operate (i.e., interactive). The first personal
computer was Edmund Berkeley's GENIAC from around 1955.
-- Doug
1 Nov
1 Nov
3:42 a.m.
Date: Sun, 1 Nov 1998 14:25:02 -0800
Reply-to: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu
From: "Buck Savage" <hhacker(a)gte.net>
To: "Discussion re-collecting of classic computers"
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: definition of personal computer
X-To: <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Everyone have a good points but don't forget that "Personal Computer"
is just that genernalization! :-)
This is overworked term and it's meaning is getting fuzzier with
every year because one can own a $10K or a 5 cent computer or
mutiples of it by one owner.
But really whole thing about real meaning behind "PC", the breaking
of dam to masses owning them was passing thru $3K, 2K and sub 1K,
YUK!
I don't refer to "PC" much these days, I call them computers,
machine(s), and model numbers, x86 etc.
Jason D.
email: jpero(a)cgocable.net
Pero, Jason D.
8:38 a.m.
On Sun, 1 Nov 1998, Buck Savage wrote:
I know perfectly well the accepted definition of
personal computer but,
language is as much subjective as objective. So, though society may
subscribe to a specific definition, there is no reason to assume that
all persons of that society also agree to subscribe. After all, this is not
France, and we have no national language police. Nevertheless, your
point is well taken.
Yes, this is France (as well as several other countries). There is no
"accepted definition" of personal computer, but I like mine, and it does
help reduce the noise when we all mean the same thing by the terms we use.
Of course, you may own a Cray 1 as your personal computer (used in the
"accepted" meaning of personal property), but that doesn't make a Cray 1 a
"personal computer" in the taxonomical sense.
Since popular jargon is so ambiguous, perhaps we should invent our own
vocabulary for this list. Take all of the known computer variations,
assign a variable to each attribute, solve a system of simultaneous
equations, and then assign arbitrary words to the attributes. (Oh, that's
a nice fwerp you've got there, Buck :-)
-- Doug
9:36 a.m.
On Sun, 1 Nov 1998, Doug Yowza wrote:
Yes, this is France (as well as several other
countries). There is no
"accepted definition" of personal computer, but I like mine, and it does
help reduce the noise when we all mean the same thing by the terms we use.
Of course, you may own a Cray 1 as your personal computer (used in the
"accepted" meaning of personal property), but that doesn't make a Cray 1 a
"personal computer" in the taxonomical sense.
"Personal Computer" is such a worthless term; we should throw it out.
Because even the timeshare computers could be used "personally" if someone
hacked in and killed all the other users' processes.
That at least reduces the number of terms we have to argue about by one
(there's still "micro", "mini", "workstation", etc.)
Sellam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Always being hassled by the man.
Coming in 1999: Vintage Computer Festival 3.0
See http://www.vintage.org/vcf for details!
[Last web site update: 09/21/98]
10:04 a.m.
On Sun, 1 Nov 1998, Sam Ismail wrote:
"Personal Computer" is such a worthless
term; we should throw it out.
It's an ambiguous term, but it's valuable in that it describes this thing
that caused a revolution. Neither the term nor the revolution can be
pinned down precisely, but I'm OK with a little ambiguity as long as we
can reasonably agree on what things belong to what classes. There will
always be exceptions, but I think the definition I gave earlier works
pretty well.
-- Doug
11:21 a.m.
Personal computer: Any computer owned by a single individual rather than a
corporation or government entity. Alternately any computer with a low enough
aquisition and operation cost to BE owned by an individual. This fits this
group best, since especially the mini and mainframe collectors
have such animals as their "personal computers".
The semantics become simple.
"What is this cray 1 you have in the basement?"
"It's my personal computer."
The fact that they're also supers, mainframes, minis, or micros becomes
irrelivant.
:)
--
Jim Strickland
jim(a)DIESPAMMERSCUMcalico.litterbox.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Vote Meadocrat! Bill and Opus in 2000 - Who ELSE is there?
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1:26 p.m.
Jim Strickland <jim(a)calico.litterbox.com> wrote:
The semantics become simple.
"What is this cray 1 you have in the basement?"
"It's my personal computer."
The fact that they're also supers, mainframes, minis, or micros becomes
irrelivant.
But the fact that it is entirely non-functional (and probably always will be)
is relevant. If you have a Cray 1 in the basement, it isn't a personal
computer. It's a big piece of scrap metal that happens to be of historical
interest.
Scott and I have a PDP-10 in his garage, but it is NOT a personal computer.
Maybe someday it will be.
9331
days inactive
9331
days old
6 comments
6 participants
participants (6)
-
dastar＠ncal.verio.com -
eric＠brouhaha.com -
hhacker＠gte.net -
jim＠calico.litterbox.com -
jpero＠pop.cgocable.net -
yowza＠yowza.com