Domesticating the computer: how the appliance computer came to be (Aaron Edition)
Channel: voidstar (v*) tech
Date: 2023-03-18

For an updated alternate voice narration version, see:  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alI_RnLbamo

This is a story of how the computer came to be an affordable home consumer appliance.   Those of GenX and earlier are the last generation of people to know the world before "a computer in every home" became a reality.   Nearly all the core aspects of Computer Science were established in academia before the 1970s, but as surplus equipment following the Apollo program made its way into the garages of hobbyist and tinkerers, a "computer liberation" movement began with a direct intention of making all this capability available to the masses.   This is a brief highlight of some of the computer systems involved in that transition, where within a decade the personal computer went from still costing more than a house to down to under $1,000, and software-applications began to become their own packaged commodity.

*** Credits ***
voidstar (script and video editing)
CarrionCrow (background art and composition)
Amigo Aaron (narration)


Thank You for direct feedback in reviewing content by the following "I-was-there" individuals:
Dennis Roberson (SCAMP/IBM 5100 lead engineer)
Dan Bricklin (VisiCalc)
Scott Adams (AdventureLand games)
Ken Williams (Sierra OnLine)


Thank You for feedback and advise (and your patience dealing with my many revisions) the various members of the following groups:
CoCo Discord crew
retrocomputingforum.com
forum.vcfed.org
cctalk mailing distribution


*** Audio ***
rainforest
sunday evening
Airea 51
venetian canals


A high-resolution copy of the background mural is available here:
https://github.com/voidstar78/mural1970/tree/version2

For an even deeper historical perspective, highly recommend the following:
Brian Stuart "Whence Came the Personal Computer" (includes PDP-8 usage demo)
https://1513041.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/Whence+Came+the+Personal+Computer/1_dq6va75g

Other outstanding world-class Vintage Computing Encyclopedia resources:
oldcomputers.net
www.oldcomputermuseum.com
computerhistory.org

A web site link with further details is IN-WORK, see here:
https://voidstar.blog/domesticating-the-computer/

"The Mother of all Demos" - Douglas Engelbart (1968)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nm47PFALc8

MOSFET – The Most significant invention of the 20th Century
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHwl8TdEI6k

The F-14 “Tomcat” First Microprocessor (1968-1970)
https://firstmicroprocessor.com

"The First Ten Years of Amateur Computing" PDF article - Sol Libes (BYTE July 1978)
https://www.tech-insider.org/personal-computers/research/acrobat/7807.pdf

The Complete History of the Home Microprocessor (decent for post 1990s content)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJh4BIujpHA

US Government Census Information (compiled as of 2018)
https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2018/acs/ACS-39.pdf

"Low-Cost Remote CRT Terminals"  - D.J. Theis and L.C. Hobbs
and "Software for Terminal-Oriented Systems" - Datamation 1968
http://www.bitsavers.org/magazines/Datamation/196806.pdf

"The Emerging Microcomputer" article
http://www.bitsavers.org/magazines/Datamation/197412.pdf

The Appliance Computer - 1977
https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1977-01/page/n7/mode/2up
The first complete small computer (page 74) SOL-20 [uses term of "motherboard"]
https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1976-11/page/n73/mode/2up?view=theater

"A mess of parts doth not a computer make" (BYTE magazine "ad")
https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1977-04/page/n5/mode/2up?view=theater

"History of Microcomputer Flight Simulator"
https://www.meridianoutpost.com/resources/articles/timeline-Microsoft-Flight-Simulator-history.php

Software in Bags (article)
https://retro365.blog/2019/12/20/bits-from-my-personal-collection-robert-clardy-synergistic-software-and-the-birth-of-the-personal-home-computer-roleplaying-game/

80 Micro August 1980 (TRS-80 factory)
https://archive.org/details/80-microcomputing-magazine-1980-08/page/n9/mode/2up?view=theater
See also "Intercom" Radio Shack magazine issues (1981):
https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1764417/m1/1/