My appleII Notes-13
My AppleII Notes-13
00/02/27 A Personal Guide to Personal Computers
I got hold
of this booklet of about 50 pages titled "A Personal Guide to Personal
Computers". It was issued in
October 1982 and contains illustrations that are used extensively to explain
"What can be done with a personal computer".
 |
The
author of the booklet was Peter Lundstrom, and Don Weller
illustrated it in his own unique style.
-What
kind of system should be constructed? - How does it work?
-How
much will it cost?
-Questions
and answers
The chapter "What will a personal
computer do for me?" states that the computer has seven areas where
it has abilities. There are specifically accounting calculations,
word processing, education, databases, entertainment, communication,
and programming.
Along with the beautiful
illustrations, the subject is described simply and clearly. The
booklet is not for a hobbyist. It is targeting people who will use a
personal computer for the first time. Even so, about 20 years later,
if we it read now, there is
no sense of incongruity except for the descriptions of some of the
hardware, such as memory.
From the
point of personal computer application, this booklet shows that the
technological level in 1982 was at a predictable level.
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"A Personal Guide to Personal Computers" is a famous
booklet that is also mentioned in "The Two Steves and Apple" in the section on
Apple publications, and it is also on display in the American History Museum of
the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC.
IBM360 The
computer exhibit at the museum is a wonderful way to experience the historical
development of computers. In fact, there are a number of machines represented in
the exhibition, such as the ENIAC, IBM 360, and Alto.
Apple II TRS-80 IBM PC In the exhibition on personal
computers, the
Apple I , Apple
II, Macintosh, Osborne-1, TRS-80, Commodore-64, and the IBM PC are on display,
and on the walls, posters,
magazines,
and other memorabilia are also displayed.
Whether the booklet was consciously
so placed there or not is not known, but it is certainly displayed most
prominently.
The
computer exhibition at the
Smithsonian
is covered in the book “Landmarks In
Digital Computing”.
Personal
Computer Exhibition at Smithsonian Museum. Photo sugarmac / Kenpapa
 （スミソニアン博物館のApple II) |
I might add that the exhibit at the
Smithsonian of the Apple II has its white plastic cover of the Power lamp
missing.
The exhibit comprises an Original
Apple II + Sanyo 9 "Monitor + Disk II. It looks like someone took the
cover as a souvenir, but since it is such a precious exhibit, I would like
to see it replaced. |
12 The ad below is Apple's “12-page Ad”
advertisement that was run in magazines in 1982.
The catchline is "What the average
business person doesn’t know about personal computers could fill a 12-page ad."
(Cover page), “And what we couldn’t fit in this ad could fill a book or
two."(Back cover), and "A Personal Guide to Personal Computers" is also
introduced on the back cover.
If a
businessman happens to have already read "A Personal Guide to Personal
Computers" , there is a humorous comment saying that "At computer stores and
cocktail parties, the
mood will not get uncomfortable when personal computers are talked about".
Apple IIIApple Monitor ///IBM PC In terms of price, I can’t
imagine that an Apple III set with 5 MB Profile and Apple Monitor at US$ 7000 or
more was serious competition for the
cheaper
IBM PC, with a main unit costing US $1565. It is very interesting that in this
period when business use of personal computers was rapidly expanding, Apple's
dilemma and the confusion of businessmen about personal computers at that time
were accurately conveyed by this advertisement.
Apple Computer magazine ad in 1982
