The Personal Computer (PC)

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The invention of the personal computer is having an effect on our lives equal to, if not greater than, that of the electric light bulb, telegraph, and telephone. The Altair was the most popular early personal computer. It was programmed by flipping switches on the front panel. Its output was simply a pattern of lights. Communications, word processing, and other applications required additional components.
Courtesy of the National Museum of American History, gift of Ivan B. Berger.
Altair Computer, 1975