Event: The World at Home—the Personal Computer

National Association of Scholars

Computers were once large, bulky things the size of entire rooms, and it took specialized skills in order to use one. However, Steve Jobs sought to popularize the PC, a personal computer, one that would reside in the home and be a tool for people of all kinds to use—one that was accessible without specialized skills. What is the story behind the first PC? What effects did this have—socially, culturally, economically?

Join the National Association of Scholars on Tuesday, October 31, at 2 pm ET, for "American Innovation: The World at Home—the Personal Computer."

This event will feature Nathan Ensmenger, an Associate Professor in the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering at Indiana University, and author of The Computer Boys Take Over: Computers, Programmers, and the Politics of Technical Expertise, and co-author of the most recent edition of Computer: A History of the Information Machine; and Eric Swedin, a professor of history at Weber State University, author of numerous articles and three books on the history of computing as well as the author of five novels, including When Angels Wept: A What-If History of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

RSVP on Eventbrite


Photo by Marcin Wichary from San Francisco, U.S.A. - en:File:Macintosh,_Google_NY_office_computer_museum.jpg, CC BY 2.0

  • Share

Most Commented

October 29, 2024

1.

The Looming Irrelevance of Middle East Study Centers

Today’s Middle Eastern Studies Centers are facing a crisis due to the winds of change in the Middle East and their own ideological echo chamber....

November 19, 2024

2.

Lee Zeldin Should Reform EPA Science Policy

NAS welcomes the nomination of Congressmen Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency....

November 20, 2024

3.

NAS Welcomes Administrator McMahon's Nomination to Serve as Education Secretary

With McMahon, the new administration has a chance to drastically slim down and depoliticize the Education Department....

Most Read

May 15, 2015

1.

Where Did We Get the Idea That Only White People Can Be Racist?

A look at the double standard that has arisen regarding racism, illustrated recently by the reaction to a black professor's biased comments on Twitter....

October 12, 2010

2.

Ask a Scholar: What is the True Definition of Latino?

What does it mean to be Latino? Are only Latin American people Latino, or does the term apply to anyone whose language derived from Latin?...

May 26, 2010

3.

10 Reasons Not to Go to College

A sampling of arguments for the idea that college may not be for everyone....