There Is No Reason for Any Individual to Have a Computer in Their Home Ken Olsen, 1977

Apparently, in 1977 Ken Olsen (who co-founded Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in 1957) attended a convention of the World Future Society and said:

There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home.

Credit: Ken Olsen

There is naturally some context to this, and you can find the story on QuoteInvestigator.

Given the story, I have to chuckle when I see my wife working on our kitchen table, using three laptops, a mini-iPad, her iPhone, and a calculator.

Interestingly the Commodore Pet, one of the first personal computers, shipped a little earlier, in October 1977.

While the Commodore PET wasn’t the first personal computer, it was one of the first to have a built-in keyboard and monitor, making it easier for non-technical users. Additionally, it was one of the first personal computers to be marketed to consumers rather than just hobbyists or computer enthusiasts.

I began working for Prime Computer in May 1978. In 1982, while working for Prime, I spent my spare time developing software to design timber frames for houses using a Commodore PET with twin floppy drives in an extra bedroom at home.

So much has changed in the computer industry in the last 45 years. I wonder what the next 45 years will bring.

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