4 ms·

So now it's called `Home Computer`? Not PC any more?

by akerro 10y ago

kbart 10y ago
I always find term "PC" somewhat inaccurate as not many PCs are actually personal. "Home Computer" reflects the true meaning much more accurately.
- Practicality 10y ago
  Tablets and smart phones could probably more accurately be called personal computers.
- type0 10y ago
  Sure, this is more and more the case families have one desktop PC to do important stuff, like bank transfers and backups on family photos and videos. Then we have personal computers: smartphones and tablets and some laptops. If you can not expect privacy on your Home Computer, you can not expect privacy in your home. End of story.
amyjess 10y ago
That distinction has been around since the 8-bit era in the '70s and '80s. A "Home Computer" was a computer intended for use in the home, while a "Personal Computer" was a computer intended for use by a single person. Home Computers were also Personal Computers, but the reverse wasn't true: many Personal Computers were intended for business use. If everyone at a company had a computer in their cubicle, those computers were Personal Computers, but not Home Computers. This distinction used to be important because Home Computers and business PCs were separate markets, and the machines were as different as you could imagine. They were made by different companies, used different CPU and bus architectures, and ran different operating systems. For example, in the 8-bit era, business PCs all used Zilog Z80 CPUs on the S-100 bus, were made by a legion of white-box manufacturers, and all ran the CP/M operating system, while Home Computers were made by names such as Commodore, Atari, Tandy, and Apple, typically had MOS 6502 processors (except Tandy, who used the Z80 but not on the S-100 bus), and ran barebones operating systems developed in house, which were little more than BASIC REPLs with some disk I/O features added. Nowadays almost nobody bothers making the distinction. Yeah, sure, the big companies have separate "home" and "business" product lines, but they're all going to be x86 machines running Windows, and you can get both from the same company (see: Dell's Inspiron and OptiPlex lines), so people don't really make a distinction anymore, and seeing someone use a phrase like "Home Computer" in the 21st century feels like an anachronism.
- wyldfire 10y ago
  Not too late into the 80's "PC" seemed to be bound to DOS/Windows and not just any personal computer. Apple seemed to embrace this by referring to competitors as "PCs".
  - amyjess 10y ago
    Well, what I forgot to mention (but kinda hinted at) was that "Personal Computer" quickly became used to just mean business PCs and not Home Computers (even though it technically applies to both). When the IBM PC came out, it and the legion of clones took over the business PC market and replaced the S-100 CP/M market almost overnight. So when "PC" is just used to refer to business PCs and the IBM-compatible DOS/x86 platform completely and thoroughly dominates the business PC market... than naturally the term "PC" will come to be synonymous with that platform.

So now it's called `Home Computer`? Not PC any more?

by akerro 10y ago

So now it's called `Home Computer`? Not PC any more?

kbart 10y ago

I always find term "PC" somewhat inaccurate as not many PCs are actually personal. "Home Computer" reflects the true meaning much more accurately.

Practicality 10y ago
Tablets and smart phones could probably more accurately be called personal computers.
type0 10y ago
Sure, this is more and more the case families have one desktop PC to do important stuff, like bank transfers and backups on family photos and videos. Then we have personal computers: smartphones and tablets and some laptops. If you can not expect privacy on your Home Computer, you can not expect privacy in your home. End of story.

amyjess 10y ago

That distinction has been around since the 8-bit era in the '70s and '80s. A "Home Computer" was a computer intended for use in the home, while a "Personal Computer" was a computer intended for use by a single person. Home Computers were also Personal Computers, but the reverse wasn't true: many Personal Computers were intended for business use. If everyone at a company had a computer in their cubicle, those computers were Personal Computers, but not Home Computers. This distinction used to be important because Home Computers and business PCs were separate markets, and the machines were as different as you could imagine. They were made by different companies, used different CPU and bus architectures, and ran different operating systems. For example, in the 8-bit era, business PCs all used Zilog Z80 CPUs on the S-100 bus, were made by a legion of white-box manufacturers, and all ran the CP/M operating system, while Home Computers were made by names such as Commodore, Atari, Tandy, and Apple, typically had MOS 6502 processors (except Tandy, who used the Z80 but not on the S-100 bus), and ran barebones operating systems developed in house, which were little more than BASIC REPLs with some disk I/O features added. Nowadays almost nobody bothers making the distinction. Yeah, sure, the big companies have separate "home" and "business" product lines, but they're all going to be x86 machines running Windows, and you can get both from the same company (see: Dell's Inspiron and OptiPlex lines), so people don't really make a distinction anymore, and seeing someone use a phrase like "Home Computer" in the 21st century feels like an anachronism.

wyldfire 10y ago
Not too late into the 80's "PC" seemed to be bound to DOS/Windows and not just any personal computer. Apple seemed to embrace this by referring to competitors as "PCs".
- amyjess 10y ago
  Well, what I forgot to mention (but kinda hinted at) was that "Personal Computer" quickly became used to just mean business PCs and not Home Computers (even though it technically applies to both). When the IBM PC came out, it and the legion of clones took over the business PC market and replaced the S-100 CP/M market almost overnight. So when "PC" is just used to refer to business PCs and the IBM-compatible DOS/x86 platform completely and thoroughly dominates the business PC market... than naturally the term "PC" will come to be synonymous with that platform.