I'm sure media coverage helped. Back in the 8-bit days in the UK there was a regular BBC TV show for computer buffs that introduced a lot of the concepts, and

I'm sure media coverage helped. Back in the 8-bit days in the UK there was a regular BBC TV show for computer buffs that introduced a lot of the concepts, and each platform had a minimum of one glossy magazine per month full of tips and info - I remember reading about assemblers for both ZX Spectrum (Z80) and Atari (6502) in these kind of publications, that were widely available at regular newsagents.