Computers 85-149

Although not credited with inventing the first desktop, Edward Roberts paved the way for the development of micro computers in the U.S. What I found most striking was that Roberts was unaware of what the market would be like for such an invention. He saw the market limited to electronic hobbyists and as a risky gamble. In the years to come, the high competition among companies, along with their successes and failures, it became evident a revolution was taking place. It paved the way for personal computers, video game consoles, and eventually the internet and World Wide Web. Swedin and Ferro state, “What was once a high technology is now mundane” (135) this has affected society and culture and numerous ways-both positive and negative. Today it is expected that one has computer knowledge and competency, regardless of the uneven access to computers. Computers have also become a tool of war, a security and privacy issue and a disconnection from society. To think the first Altair would have such an effect on technology and culture back in the 1970’s would have been inconceivable. I was not aware of the origins of computers and the extensive competition and ingenuity of the first entrepreneurs. I think society, including myself, tends to take things for granted and perceive things as natural without questioning the origins. Thanks to the hard work and innovative thinking of the founders we have the ability to have the world at our fingertips today.