5 ms·

Sounds about right. Could say late 1990s if you were in the right location in an affluent family.

analog31 6y ago
I started college in 1982, majoring in math and physics. The professors all had personal computers on their desks. I bought myself one for under $1000 the next year. By the time I graduated, even the computer science professors were using personal computers, though student assignments were still done on the mainframe.
- user5994461 6y ago
  Where were you living?
  - analog31 6y ago
    I grew up in Michigan and went to one of the many small liberal arts colleges in the state.
acdha 6y ago
You’re off by a couple of decades: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_personal_computers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_personal_computers You could be thinking of “personal computer with Internet access”? That’s closer timing as long as you want something more open / capable than the various dialup services which were popular with personal computer users starting in the 1980s.
retrac 6y ago
I did some searching. Most stats suggest that by 1985, more than 10% of American households, and a slight majority of small businesses, had a personal computer. By 2001, it's 60% and nearly 100%. I agree with the others. You're about two decades too late in your estimate.
pwinnski 6y ago
In San Diego, in 1987, I attended college using Pell grants from the US government because my family was considered below the poverty line. They provided enough money to cover tuition, books, and room and board, but I lived at home and used the room-and-board money to buy an IBM PC AT clone. This was not my first personal computer, but it was the first that literally has "Personal Computer" in the name, and is more than ten years prior to your claim.
leothecool 6y ago
The TRS-80 was $600 in 1980. That's still less than $2000 in today's dollars, in the same ballpark as a macbook, and around the same price as a VCR.
sethammons 6y ago
Around ‘93 or ‘94 is when we got our first home PC. We were no where close to affluent.

I started college in 1982, majoring in math and physics. The professors all had personal computers on their desks. I bought myself one for under $1000 the next year. By the time I graduated, even the computer science professors were using personal computers, though student assignments were still done on the mainframe.

user5994461 6y ago
Where were you living?
- analog31 6y ago
  I grew up in Michigan and went to one of the many small liberal arts colleges in the state.

acdha 6y ago

You’re off by a couple of decades: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_personal_computers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_personal_computers You could be thinking of “personal computer with Internet access”? That’s closer timing as long as you want something more open / capable than the various dialup services which were popular with personal computer users starting in the 1980s.

retrac 6y ago

I did some searching. Most stats suggest that by 1985, more than 10% of American households, and a slight majority of small businesses, had a personal computer. By 2001, it's 60% and nearly 100%. I agree with the others. You're about two decades too late in your estimate.

pwinnski 6y ago

In San Diego, in 1987, I attended college using Pell grants from the US government because my family was considered below the poverty line. They provided enough money to cover tuition, books, and room and board, but I lived at home and used the room-and-board money to buy an IBM PC AT clone. This was not my first personal computer, but it was the first that literally has "Personal Computer" in the name, and is more than ten years prior to your claim.

leothecool 6y ago

The TRS-80 was $600 in 1980. That's still less than $2000 in today's dollars, in the same ballpark as a macbook, and around the same price as a VCR.

sethammons 6y ago

Around ‘93 or ‘94 is when we got our first home PC. We were no where close to affluent.