In article <3E00F879.1090705@noneofyourbusiness.com>,
Exegete <millers@noneofyourbusiness.com> wrote:
Paul Schlyter wrote:
Don't be so sure about that! Otto constructed his engine in 1882
(his engine was the basis of the majority of car combustion engines
today), and already 4 years later (in 1886) that engine started to be
used in vehicles. Of course today's mass car'ism requires more than
just vehicles and engines: it requires roads which just didn't exist
back then. So the earliest cars could not travel far, and definitely
not fast. In England there was a law that if you wanted to drive a
car, you had to have a man walking ahead of the car, waving a red
flag as a warning to people around.
I think you missed the point - I'm not so sure that when Intel created
the 4004 that they envisioned a personal computer market, or, for that
matter, the 8008 or the 8080.
I'm equally sure that Steve&Steve, when they built their Apple I in
their garage, didn't envision today's personal computer mass market
either -- then considered the home computer to be something for
tinkerers and enthusiasts.
Revolutions rarely happen as planned.... :-)
The "average" person couldn't make a computer out of a pile of
chips, resistors, capacitors and boards either.
True; likewise the "average" person couldn't make a car out
of sufficient amounts of ore, plastics, glass, rubber, etc either...
Of course, those aren't parts ready for assembly, as were the first
personal computers.
Doesn't matter here really -- the "average" person would also be unable
to assemble a car from a pile containing all the parts needed for the
complete car.
Frankly, I coudn't afford the first TRS-80, and, at a later stage,
I couldnt' afford a Timex-Sinclair 1000. Though, two years later,
I could afford 6 times the price for a Coleco ADAM.
One single person isn't a sample large enough to be statistically
significant... :-)
No, but I wasn't so poor that my family was on public assistence either.
True, Apple has always been a "premium" brand name, as has been IBM but
I knew people who could, and did, afford both brands.
I guess "couldn't afford" is a relative term, which perhaps should
be replaced with "wasn't willing to pay for what you got". If you
absolutely desperately needed the TSR-80, or the Timex-Sinclair 1000,
you'd probably find a way to get the money needed to get them, but
then you'd have to refrain from buying something else instead. It's
a matter of priorities.