personal computer

English

IBM PC 5150 (1981)
A modern personal computer

Etymology

    Often attributed to Stewart Brand (1974), but in use before (see quotations).

    Pronunciation

    • Audio (US):(file)
    • Audio (US):(file)

    Noun

    personal computer (plural personal computers)

    1. A computer for use by one person at a time (using a microprocessor).
      Synonym: PC (initialism)
      Near-synonyms: desktop computer, microcomputer
      Hyponyms: laptop computer, home computer
      Coordinate terms: mainframe, minicomputer, workstation
      He is working on an important project on his personal computer.
      • 1962 November 3, John Mauchly, quotee, “Pocket Computer May Replace Shopping List”, in The New York Times‎[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:
        “There is no reason to suppose the average boy or girl cannot be master of a personal computer,” he said.
        (Can we archive this URL?)
      • 1974, Stewart Brand, II Cybernetic Frontiers, New York: Random House, →ISBN, page 88:
        Meanwhile the research center is nifty as ever. Virtuoso Peter Deutsch is working on interactive systems for secretaries. They're part way along on the Dynabook fantasy with a working personal computer the size of a breadbox.
      • 1984, InfoWorld, volume 6, number 13, page 13:
        Morse did confirm that the Amiga personal computer will have 128K of random-access memory (RAM) and a single 5¼-inch disk drive with 320K storage.
      1. (historical) The IBM Personal Computer.
      2. (dated) A PC-compatible computer.
        Synonyms: PC clone, IBM PC clone

    Usage notes

    • Originally, the term personal computer was broadly applied to a broad spectrum of computers for personal use (including for example the Apple II), distinguishing such computers from mainframes and specialized microcomputers (such as those designed primarily for electronic games or controlling equipment). From the launch of the IBM Personal Computer in the early 1980s, the term became more often used specifically in subsense 1.1, and by the end of the 1980s, in subsense 1.2, in particular its acronym PC.
    • Since then, sense 1.2 has become even much vaguer with the evolution of hardware and software. The term personal computer is often used for desktop computers or non-dedicated servers that may run multi-user software and be accessed by more than one person (for example: by means of a local area network). In the previous decades, the appearance of numerous models (and types) of computers and the two subsenses has made this term polysemous and vaguer, causing more precise terms (such as desktop, laptop, home computer, Linux workstation) or term combinations to be often preferred nowadays.

    Translations

    Further reading

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