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> it’s not even how the industry started Which industry? The very earliest computers ran software written by end-users.

• aikinai 4y ago
  The computer industry. Computers were devices that came with predetermined hardware and software for a long time until unbundling took over and became the de facto standard.
  • peoplefromibiza 4y ago
    for a long time meaning until they were not personal computers? of course I can't install any other software on a CAT scanner, that's the equivalent of what computers were at the beginning, they were single purpose machines, but they could be programmed by the owners almost immediately after being invented. The computer industry started with microcomputers in the 70s, by the mid of the decade they were cheap enough that individuals could own them and write software for them. But starting from the 60s students had the chance of sitting at a computer station and programming them to do whatever they wanted them to do, according to their at the time limited possibilities.