When Computing Got Personal: A history of the desktop computer

This is the story of how a handful of geeks and mavericks dragged the computer out of corporate back rooms and laboratories and into our living rooms and offices. It is a tale not only of extraordinary innovation and vision but also of cunning business deals, boardroom tantrums and acrimonious lawsuits.



Here you will find some of the most intelligent and eccentric people you could hope to meet, including wide-eyed hippies, subversive students, computer nerds, entrepreneurs, hackers, crackers and financial backers. Some lost out and some became millionaires, but all played a part in transforming our world.



"a very satisfying read" - Andrew Binstock, Editor in Chief, Dr. Dobb’s



"I have read numerous books on the history of personal computing and rate this one highly." - Tim Anderson, ITWriting



"I enjoyed this book; it has obviously been extremely well researched, and is well written and takes a coherent route through the history." - Kay Ewbank, I Programmer



"Matt Nicholson ... was in a position to observe all this first-hand." - Wendy M Grossman, ZDNet



"highly recommended for anyone with an interest in computing history" - Jason Slater, Technology News



Note that the paperback edition includes a full bibliography and index. Readers of the Kindle edition can access an online version of the bibliography.