Making the Computer Personal: Theme of Paper Reconstructing Domesticity for the Information Age � How did people decide they needed a computer in their home? � Cultural work of reconstruction � Looked at another way � What kind of a home would need a computer? Thomas Haigh University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Tokyo University, January 19, 2006 America in the mid-1970s � A time of uncertainty and turmoil in the US � Energy shocks � Loss of faith in government � End of the Vietnam war 1: Getting Personal � Economic and wage stagnation � Within the home � Rapid rise in divorce rates � 2.3% in 1978, vs 0.5% in 1950s � More drugs and sex among teenagers � More women working outside the home � 51.5% in 1980 vs 37.7% in 1960 Home Computer Concept The First Microcomputers � Predates microprocessor � MITS Altair � Originates as “home � Launched 1975 terminal” concept � Solution looking for a � Supplied in kit problem � “If she can only cook as form well as Honeywell can � Limited use compute…” � But � 1969 minicomputer in drag � sold in Neiman Marcus expandable… catalog � around $10,000 1
Initial Constituency Users and Producers Blur? � People who � Best known user role – � Knew how to hobbyist designer solder � Understood � Steve Wozniak, Apple II electronics Designer � Wanted to play � Mythology of with a computer � Served by Byte � Geeks magazine � Garages � 88,000 � Genius circulation by spring 1977 Selling to Enthusiasts Before & After Attempted Potted Plants are Common Motif Domestication � “The Noval 760… appears in its natural setting: unfolded in a living room, office, or den. The console… folds into the desk… so that the Noval 760 blends into the décor as a desk- like woodtone piece of furniture.” 2
Tokenism I: The Rainbow Alliance Tokenism II: The Babe “People from “combines the every walk of 8080A CPU with a life are front panel adding iCOM featuring ultra- Floppy Disks convenient octal to their keyboard and microcomput digital LED ers…” readout” Pre-assembled Machines Computer Fairs � Develop very rapidly � Follow by around � “Computer Faire” in Bay 1977 Area is most famous � Apple II � But hundreds of others nationally � Radio Shack TRS 80 � Boundary between visitors � Commodore Pet and exhibitors fluid in 1970s � Booths are basic and cheap � Enthusiasts on both side of the trestle table Computer Dealers Trade Groups � Trade groups � An estimated established for independent 600 stores � Hardware producers & by 1976 Distributors � Plus 5,000 Radio Shacks � Microcomputer Industry � Functions Association � Sales � Software producers � Software Publishers � Tech support Association � Configuration � ADAPSO Microcomputer � Training Software Section � Community hub � National Computer Retailers Association � Some offer own software items 3
User Groups Newsletters � Distributed all over the � Published by � User groups country � Dealers � Activities include � Computer manufacturers � Training sessions � Contents include � Organizing exhibitions � Hints and tips and shows � News and announcements � Creating user- � Program listings contributed software � Some expand into libraries commercial magazines � Publishing newsletters Different Construction for Different Groups � The PC is cultural reconstructed to fit in different social spaces 2: Buying and Selling � School � Hospital the Home Computer � Laboratory � Office � Home � Specialized � Software firms � Hardware add-on vendors � Newsletters, user groups, etc � Networks within existing organizations Home Computer Hardware Home Computer Sales � Sold in department and discount stores � Separate species, � By 1983 existed � Several models under $100 � from about 1978 to 1990 � Much cheaper than � Around 5 million units sold annually in US “business” PCs � Sold in large numbers � Better sound and graphics � Fewer peripheral options � Connect to domestic TV � Often used with Commodore 64 standard cassette player sells 30 million rather than disks worldwide, 1982-early 1990s 4
Celebrity Endorsements Bill Cosby for Texas Instruments � Isaac Asimov for Radio Shack � Science Fiction writer � Familiar yet Futuristic � “It’s like having the cosmos at your fingertips.” William Like a Kid Shatner for Commodore � Show the Alan Alda video (show Vic System advert) But What Is It For? ‘It’s an interesting machine, but what do you actually use it for?’ That’s one of the most frustrating questions asked of 3: Using a Home personal computer owners. It’s also often the most difficult to answer. Computer The Commodore 64, Getting the Most From it. (1983) “It comes with its own BASIC language that’s built in and uses plain simple English…” Alan Alda, Like a Kid , 1982. 5
Programming Programming for Everyone � BASIC language built into The TI Home Computer was designed to be used for almost all home extensive personal computers programming. The built-in � turn them on, there it is BASIC language makes the � Instruction manuals teach TI99/4 a valuable desktop tool… a great way to teach programming your children about computers. � presented as way to get value out of purchase � The ONLY thing you can do out of the box Program Listings Computer Advice Books � Many books consist � Mostly follow format of ONLY of programs to manual type in…. � Introduction � This one includes � Physical set up � Nutrition Pack � How to program � Family Budget � 60% or so of total Comptroller � Reference tables � Studying State Capitals � Your Math Teacher Domestic Byte, 1980, Pirate Adventure Automation Simple Programming: You write your control programs in BASIC or Assembler language. • Literal translation of industrial applications. 6
Limited Range of Applications Gender Roles � Same topics appear repeatedly in early (1977-1982) programs � Type-in from magazines � Printed in books � Sold on cassette � Used in computer advertisements � Few seem particularly compelling � Reflect shared assumptions about home and computer’s place in it The Magic Centerpiece of the nuclear family Machine “Mum laughed, and said the magic machine can start by cooking dinner….” Byte Press, 1979 Husband � Masculine � Radio Shack, 1983 � Tax preparation � “The Computer That � Financial calculations Said NO To Drugs” � Checkbook balancing 7
Wife � Feminine � Recipe databases � Calorie counting � Knitting � Biorhythms � This book included programs for � “Shopping” � “Pantry Inventory” � “Recipe” � “Chore reminder” Children � Educational applications � Maths drill 4: Conclusions � Geography quiz, etc. � Programming The Broader Context The Third Wave � Futurist Alvin Toffler � Late 1970s also saw popularization of � 1980, influential example of ideas of “information age” thinking � Information technology � Information society/Post Industrial Society � Computer literacy � Microcomputer revolution 8
Computer Literacy � A loaded term � Utopian best seller � Assumed to � Intelligent machines by early 1990s require programming skills Creative Computing, 1977 It’s The Actual Use: Games? Educational! � Computers play games but are good for you too � (Video clip: Commodore Job Interview) An Irony � The success of the home computer hinged on idea of a “microcomputer society” changed beyond all recognition. Never happened. � BUT, those involved in domesticating the computer were trapped in a 1950s sitcom vision of the perfect suburban family already fatally undermined by REAL social change. 9
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