Me. A visionary?

In the spring of 1976, I was an adjunct instructor at the University of Northern Iowa.  I taught just one course, called “Computers in Business” to juniors, seniors, and graduate students.  In the sixteen weeks of the course, I spent the better part of three weeks (one night per week) talking about  the important future for business use of what was to become known as the Personal Computer (PC for short).  I was partially relaying the visions and activities of some pretty important thinkers of the day.  (Like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs)

My inspiration was my prior experience as systems manager for a large hospital in a major metropolitan area and a few early magazine articles I had read.   1976 was the birth year of Apple and the only personal computers available before then were in kit form.  The IBM Personal Computer was not introduced until 1981.

Toward the end of the semester I was asked to come to the office of the department head.  There he told me I had wasted students time and that was not what I was to teach, but instead I should have focused on business computers, not toys for tinkerers.

I was not invited back to teach again.  I was not the visionary, only the mouthpiece for other people’s visions.   Over the next ten years “my vision” and that of many others became a reality.  And then the explosion really began as Microsoft Windows came on the scene.  Just look where we are now!!

 

Want more computer history?    Follow this link.  http://www.computerhope.com/history/196080.htm

     

This is a Radio Shack TRS-80 Model I, introduced in late 1977.  We bought ours in early 1979 and I developed a payroll calculation program that summer. That was the beginning of our business use of personal computers.