When did computers became widepsread in homes and schools?

Answer 1

The first practical programmable electronic digital computers were built in the late 1940s. The first commercially available programmable electronic digital computers were sold/leased in the early 1950s.

Programmable electromechanical digital computers and special purpose electronic digital computers were built through the late 1930s and early 1940s.

Mechanical, electromechanical, and electronic analog computers, both programmable and special purpose, had been built since the middle 1920s.

The earliest known analog computer dates from about 100BC. It is made with hand cut gears the quality and precision of which could not again be duplicated by machinists until the late 1700s.

Answer 2

Home computers became popular at the end of the 1970's with the advent of cheap computers such as the TRS-80, Pet 2000, Texas Ti994A, but they didn't really become main stream until the release of later machines such as the VIC-20, Spectrum, Dragon32/64 and the Commodore 64. These were released in the 1981-82 onward.

As a footnote the IBM PC was not a home computer until around 1989 with the creation of the EGA video-card system. Up until then it has primarily been a business computer with low resolution graphics and no sound. The Apple was also seen as a niche market computer at that time primarily used as a DTP system.

To give you an idea of cost, I purchased a TRS-80 Color Computer and periferals in 1980 from Tandy Radio Shack HQ in Tottenham Court Road in London. It cost me £800 ($1,288.77). It would be the equivalent of buying a computer for £2984 ($4,806.42) in 2011 taking account of inflation.

Although some more affluent schools had mini-computers and some colleges had mainframes, in England computers in schools really started taking off when the BBC sponsored a computer called the BBC micro in 1981. But it didn't become mainstream in schools until around 1983.

Answer 3

The late 1980's and internet was added in 1991.

Answer 4

1977, but were too expensive.

Answer 5

In the early 1980's