Question: When were personal computers first sold to the public?

context: In 1968, a manufacturer took the risk of referring to their product this way, when Hewlett-Packard advertised their "Powerful Computing Genie" as "The New Hewlett-Packard 9100A personal computer". This advertisement was deemed too extreme for the target audience and replaced with a much drier ad for the HP 9100A programmable calculator.
question: When was a programmable calculated which was called a personal computer first sold to the public?
short_answers: 1968
context: Over the next seven years, the phrase had gained enough recognition that "Byte" magazine referred to its readers in its first edition as "[in] the "personal computing" field", and "Creative Computing" defined the personal computer as a "non-(time)shared system containing sufficient processing power and storage capabilities to satisfy the needs of an individual user." In 1977, three new pre-assembled small computers hit the markets which "Byte" would refer to as the "1977 Trinity" of personal computing. The Apple II and the PET 2001 were advertised as "personal computers", while the TRS-80 was described as a microcomputer used for household tasks including ""personal" financial management". By 1979, over half a million microcomputers were sold and the youth of the day had a new concept of the personal computer.
question: When were pre-assembled small computers first sold to the public?
short_answers: 1977
context: In 1968, a manufacturer took the risk of referring to their product this way, when Hewlett-Packard advertised their "Powerful Computing Genie" as "The New Hewlett-Packard 9100A personal computer". This advertisement was deemed too extreme for the target audience and replaced with a much drier ad for the HP 9100A programmable calculator.
question: When was the first product marketed to the public as a personal computer?
short_answers: 1968
context: The Altair was introduced in a "Popular Electronics" magazine article in the January 1975 issue. In keeping with MITS's earlier projects, the Altair was sold in kit form, although a relatively complex one consisting of four circuit boards and many parts. Priced at only $400, the Altair tapped into pent-up demand and surprised its creators when it generated thousands of orders in the first month. Unable to keep up with demand, MITS sold the design after about 10,000 kits had shipped.
question: When were the first actual personal computers first sold as kits to the public?
short_answers: 1975
context: Over the next seven years, the phrase had gained enough recognition that "Byte" magazine referred to its readers in its first edition as "[in] the "personal computing" field", and "Creative Computing" defined the personal computer as a "non-(time)shared system containing sufficient processing power and storage capabilities to satisfy the needs of an individual user." In 1977, three new pre-assembled small computers hit the markets which "Byte" would refer to as the "1977 Trinity" of personal computing. The Apple II and the PET 2001 were advertised as "personal computers", while the TRS-80 was described as a microcomputer used for household tasks including ""personal" financial management". By 1979, over half a million microcomputers were sold and the youth of the day had a new concept of the personal computer.
question: When were the first pre-assembled personal computers first sold to the public?
short_answers: 1977

Answer: Kits and preassembled versions of personal computers were introduced at different times, while other products were marketed as personal computers prior to actual personal computers being sold. Hewlett-Packard had the first product marketed to the public as a personal computer in 1968 when they referred to one of their programmable calculators in ads as "The New Hewlett-Packard 9100A personal computer," but they later changed the ad. The first actual personal computer sold to the public, in kit form in 1975, was the Altair 8800. In 1977, the first pre-assembled small computers were sold to the public, the Apple II, the PET 2001, and the TRS-80.