With the mobile meteorite looming ever larger over the landscape of Planet PC, it seems like a good time to recall some memories of the last major transition in the computer world. I call this the Pre-Cambrian explosion of Personal Computers. It took place from the mid-70's to the early 80's, when dozens of entrepreneurial companies sprang up all hoping to hit the magic combination of hardware and software and sell a zillion units.
In a way, it was exactly the inverse of what is happening now. Back then, a myriad of bizarre life forms sprang up to fill the niche exposed by the advent of the microprocessor, only to be driven into extinction by the arrival of a behemoth with superior reproductive capability.
Whereas today, the new ecological zone was initially colonized by a single fierce predator, who may yet out-compete all other arrivals trying to crawl out onto the shore of the new territory.
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On to a series of occasional posts on the Pre-Cambrian PC era...
