Development of the Personal Computer in the 1970s Personal computers (PCs) are everywhere. Right now I'm sitting at my desk writing this report on my PC. It seems like we take computers for granted these days. Almost everyone has one. Teachers assign projects that require almost no computer use. But where does this PC explosion come from? Just a few years ago you were lucky to have a computer. About 25 years ago people would have called you crazy if you said you had a personal computer. This is because before 1975 there were no personal computers available or affordable to the general population. In fact, it wasn't until much later that there really was a personal computer that anyone could use. The 1970s served as a springboard for the personal computer industry to launch itself into the future. In the early 1970s computer enthusiasts were beginning to show frustration with the current situation involving computers. At the time the only way anyone could use a computer was to access a mainframe via a time-sharing terminal. What hobbyists wanted was to be able to access their files whenever they wanted, even if they were on a business trip. They wanted to be able to play without someone yelling at them to get back to work. They wanted their own personal computer (Campbell-Kelley and Aspray 237-238; Triumph). Some people were already experimenting with building computers. In 1971 Steve Wozniak and Bill Fernandez built a simple computer using parts rejected by local companies. This computer, which they called the "cream soda computer", worked with lights and switches and is considered by many to be the first personal computer (Polsson). This however was not really satisfactory. What hobbyists wanted was a real computer that they could call their own. This frustration was expressed in the major electronics magazines of the time, the two main ones being Popular Electronics and Radio Electronics. Soon both of these magazines put out a call for an article on building a personal computer (Triumph; Freiberger and Swaine 27-29; Shurkin 307). This would not have been possible a few years earlier, but a series of incredible advances in electronics made it possible. In the early 1970s, calculators were very popular. They have recently become much easier to produce thanks to the advent of the integrated circuit and large-scale integration (technology that puts the equivalent of 100 transistors on a single chip).