-Article 5-

Personal Computers

In what was later to be called The Mother of All

Demos, SRI researcher Douglas Englebart in 1968
gave a preview of what would become the staples of
daily working life in the 21st century - e-mail,
hypertext, word processing, video conferencing, and
the mouse. The demonstration required technical
support staff and a mainframe time-sharing
computer that were far too costly for individual
business use at the time.

By the early 1970s, people in academic or research institutions had the opportunity for single-
person use of a computer system in interactive mode for extended durations, although these
systems would still have been too expensive to be owned by a single person.

Early personal computers - generally called microcomputers - were sold often in kit form and in
limited volumes, and were of interest mostly to hobbyists and technicians. Minimal
programming was done with toggle switches to enter instructions, and output was provided by
front panel lamps. Practical use required peripherals such as keyboards, computer terminals, disk
drives, and printers. Micral N was the earliest commercial, non-kit microcomputer based on a
microprocessor, the Intel 8008. It was built starting in 1972 and about 90,000 units were sold.
The first true Personal Computer was the Sphere 1 computer, created in Bountiful, Utah in 1975
by computer pioneer Michael D. Wise (1949-2002). At first, Sphere 1 was sold as a kit, but was
later sold as fully assembled PC. The Sphere 1 qualified as The First Personal Computer because
it included a keyboard, a number pad, and a monitor. In 1976 Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak sold
the Apple I computer circuit board, which was fully prepared and contained about 30 chips. The
first successfully mass marketed personal computer was the Commodore PET introduced in
January 1977, which bore a striking resemblance to Sphere 1 of two years earlier. It was soon
followed by the TRS-80 from Radio Shack and the popular Apple II. Mass-market pre-
assembled computers allowed a wider range of people to use computers, focusing more on
software applications and less on development of the processor hardware.

Through the late 1970s and into the 1980s, computers were developed for household use, with
software for personal productivity, programming and games. One such machine, the Commodore
64, totaled 17 million units sold, making it the best-selling single personal computer model of all
time. Some what larger and more expensive systems (although still low-cost compared
with minicomputers and mainframes) were aimed at office and small business
use. Workstations are characterized by high-performance processors and graphics displays, with
large local disk storage, networking capability, and running under a multitasking operating
system. In 1984, Dr. Mark Dean created a device called the ISA systems bus, which allows a
personal computer to have several machines connected to it at once, such as a printer and scanner
or modem. ISA is widely used today and Dean also received the Black Engineer of the Year
President’s Award in 1997 for his contribution . However, card slots already existed before the
ISA bus of the IBM-PC.

Difficuld Word of The Article

No. Word Mean Translate

1 Demonstration An act of showing that
something exists or is true by
giving proof or evidence
2 Opportunity A time or set of circumstances
that makes it possible to do
something
3 Interactive Fully sighted children in
interactive play with others with
defective vision
4 Extended Made larger
5 Peripherals Relating to or situated on the
edge or periphery of something
6 Terminals Forming or situated at the end or
extremity of something
7 Assembled Gather together in one place for
Tindakan menunjukkan sesuatu
yang ada atau benar dengan
memberikan bukti atau bukti
Waktu atau serangkaian keadaan
yang memungkinkan untuk
melakukan sesuatu
Sepenuhnya terlihat anak-anak
dalam bermain interaktif dengan
orang lain dengan visi yang cacat
Dibuat lebih besar
Berkaitan dengan atau terletak di
tepi atau pinggiran sesuatu
Membentuk atau terletak pada
akhir atau ujung dari sesuatu
Berkumpul bersama di satu
 a common purpose tempat untuk tujuan yang sama
8 Circuit A roughly circular line , route, or Garis kasar melingkar, rute, atau
movement that starts and gerakan yang dimulai dan selesai
finishes at the same place di tempat yang sama
9 Qualified Officially recognized as being Secara resmi diakui sebagai yang
trained to perform a particular dilatih untuk melakukan pekerjaan
job; certified tertentu; bersertifikat
10 Commodore A naval rank above captain and Pangkat kapten angkatan laut di
below rear admiral atas dan di bawah laksamana
belakang
11 Several More than two but not many Lebih dari dua tapi tidak banyak
12 Resemblance The state of resembling or being Keadaan menyerupai atau yang
alike sama
13 Focusing The centre of interest or activity Pusat kepentingan atau kegiatan
14 Household A house and its occupants Rumah dan penghuninya
regarded as a unit dianggap sebagai satu unit
15 Productivity The state or quality of being Negara atau kualitas menjadi
productive produktif
16 Compared Estimate, measure , or note the Memperkirakan, mengukur, atau
similarity catatan kesamaan
17 Characterized Describe the distinctive nature or Menggambarkan sifat khas atau
features of fitur dari
18 Capability A facility on a computer for Fasilitas pada komputer untuk
performing a specified task melakukan tugas tertentu
19 Contribution A gift or payment to a common Hadiah atau pembayaran untuk
fund or collection dana umum atau koleksi
20 Existed Have objective reality or being Memiliki realitas objektif atau
sedang

QUESTIONS
Read the following statements. Check whether they are True (T) or False (F).

1. In what was later to be called The Mother of All Demos T

2. The demonstration required technical support only staff F
3. By the early 1971s, people in academic or research institutions had the opportunity for
single-person use of a computer system F
4. Maximal programming was done with toggle switches to enter instructions F
5. It was built starting in 1972 and about 9,000 units were sold. F