History of the Microcomputer Revolution

Foreword 1977 Pullman, Washington. I was working as a Sales Executive for the Xerox Corporation. One of the Xerox Service Technicians and I were walking down one of the main streets after work - headed for a local watering hole - when we passed a Radio Shack store that had one of the new TRS-80 Microcomputers on display in the window. He said "I've been reading about these - let's go inside and look at it." I wasn't sure why he would want to look at a computer - we were working for the world's largest copier company and I had absolutely no interest in computers. He walked up to this computer and began typing on the keyboard. In less than a minute he had a message appearing on the computer screen that kept repeating his name and "Xerox Corporation." I was both astounded and fascinated. Here was an ordinary human being - a regular guy - who walks up to a computer and gets it follow his commands! This was a moment that changed my life.