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Early predictions
I was one of the early readers of PCW but I couldn’t afford Pet, Apple or Tandy as they cost six months' salary. I saw an advert for kit called the UK101 for £100, but you only got a bare motherboard and had to solder all the components, including the keyboard. It was a reasonable price if it worked, but a big waste if it didn’t. I found a shop that offered to fix any faults for £10 which meant I was more or less getting a working computer for £110.
It certainly worked, but it didn’t do anything as you had to write all your own programs using the built in MS Basic. Back then, PCW had a regular column for UK101 users and, month by month, I leant how to write or modify programs. There was a great camaraderie amongst users that helped people solve problems.
I remember the predictions – a laser printer for under £1,000. Oh, how we laughed as a simple nine-pin dot matrix printer cost £450 at the time.
The suggestion in Issue 3 about the computer to help deaf children hear seemed like science fiction at the time, but I now have a Cochlear Implant which enables me to understand speech although I am completely deaf. It is smaller than a Bluetooth headset that fits behind the ear. Most deaf children are fitted with them before they go to school and I don’t think anyone would have dreamt that possible in the 70s.
Derek Trayler
February 28, 2008 in PCs | Permalink
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