© Mark Ollig
In 1927, TIME magazine began its annual naming of their “Man of the Year.”
Jan. 3, 1983, was a momentous day for technology enthusiasts as TIME magazine’s front cover showed a paper-mache man seated at a table and staring at a computer.
The magazine had decided to name the computer their “Machine of the Year” for 1982, recognizing its impact on productivity in various sectors, including businesses, schools, healthcare organizations, and homes.
During the early 1980s, two popular personal computer models were made by International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) and Apple Computer, Inc.
Developed by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, the Apple II computer was first announced in 1977.
Many models of the Apple II were sold to people who used them in their homes and businesses. In addition, most schools were also using the Apple II.
The Apple II was equipped with a MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor, and data was stored using an audio cassette tape. Available the following year was Apple’s Disk II drive using 5.25-inch, 140 KB floppy disks. The Apple II sold for $1,298.
The IBM PC (personal computer) became available in 1981 and used an Intel 8088 central processor with a clocking speed of 4.77 MHz and was equipped with two 5.25-inch floppy disk drives.
The computer operated using the IBM BASIC or PC/MS-DOS disk operating system and sold for under $2,000.
In March 1983, IBM introduced the upgraded version of its original IBM PC, the IBM XT (extended technology). It was equipped with a 10 or 20 MB hard drive, software bundle, and a color monitor. The Sears Business Center in Minneapolis was selling the IBM XT for $4,995.
In early 1983, the Apple IIe (enhanced) computer came on the market. It used the MOS Technology 6502 8-bit microprocessor operating at 1.023 MHz and equipped with 64 KB of RAM. It costs $1,400, but with the addition of various peripherals, the price could go up to around $5,000.
The Apple III, a business-oriented computer, was equipped with a Synertek MOS Technology 6502B processor with a 1.8 MHz clocking speed. It sold for $4,995 at the Digital Den store in Maplewood.
The Apple Local Integrated Software Architecture (Lisa), also introduced in 1983, was a desktop computer system equipped with a Motorola 68000 5 MHz processor, 1 MB of RAM, a 5 MB hard drive, and dual 5.25-inch floppy drives.
The computer system managed task processes using Apple’s proprietary Lisa operating system and included seven bundled software applications and a peripheral equipment package.
However, its high price of $9,995 ($30,425 today) made it unaffordable for most home and small business users.
At the start of 1984, the Team Electronics store in the Minnetonka Ridgedale Center was selling the Apple Macintosh computer for $2,495.
By 1989, Apple had stopped production of the Lisa computer, and rumor was that 2,700 unsold units were buried in a landfill in Logan, UT.
As the 1980s progressed, more and more people were buying computers, and it became difficult to imagine living without one. As a result, the past 40 years have seen computers become an integral part of nearly every home and business.
It is impossible to predict the type of computing technology the folks living 100 years from now will use, as unforeseen factors may either quicken or slow its rate of development.
In 2122, it may be commonplace for humans and artificially intelligent, semi-sentient devices to interact daily.
Hopefully, both will coexist peacefully.
If not, the humans of that time may confront a battle similar to that depicted in the 1921 science-fiction theatrical drama, “Rossum’s Universal Robots,” written by Czech playwright Karel Čapek.
In the play, factory-manufactured robots serve humans; however, the robots revolt and destroy humanity.
By the way, Čapek is the person who coined the word “robot.”
Of course, it is difficult to predict the future, and one can only imagine the advances that will come in the next 100 years and who or what will be named TIME magazine’s 2122 “Person or Machine of the Year” – if they still are in business.
On Jan. 3, 1983, TIME magazine had an article on page 14 accurately titled “The Computer Moves In.”
In 1982, nearly three million computers had moved into our homes, schools, and businesses.
And that, as they say, is history.
