The personal computer turns 25

It has democratised communication and computing. But new challengers loom

Not many 25-year-olds can reasonably claim to have changed the world. The IBM personal computer, which was launched in 1981 and celebrates its 25th birthday in August, is a rare exception. Other personal computers had been launched before; but it was the IBM PC that ended up defining the standard around which a vast new industry then coalesced. IBM, the titan of the computing world at the time, quickly lost control of its own creation, allowing others to reap the benefits. But leave aside what the PC has done for the fortunes of particular companies, and instead step back and consider what the PC has done for mankind.

The PC8217;s most obvious achievement has been to help make computers cheaper, more widely available and more useful than ever before8230;

It is also worth celebrating the innovation that has been unleashed by the PC. Its flexible, general-purpose architecture has made it the platform on which new technologies, from voice-over-internet calling to peer-to-peer file-sharing, have been incubated. Most important of all, the PC has, in the past decade, turned primarily into a communications device, thanks to the rise of the internet. Cheap, fast global communication, online commerce, the ability to find the answer to almost any question on the web using a search engine and the many other wonders of the internet are all underpinned by the widespread availability of inexpensive, powerful PCs.

But although the PC has its merits, it also has its faults. Its flexibility has proved to be both a strength and a weakness: it encourages innovation, but at the cost of complexity, reliability and security. And for people in the developing world, PCs are too bulky, expensive and energy-hungry. When it comes to extending the benefits of digital technology 8212; chiefly, cheap and easy access to information 8212; to everyone on the planet, the PC may not be the best tool for the job8230;

There is no question that the PC has democratised computing and unleashed innovation; but it is the mobile phone that now seems most likely to carry the dream of the 8220;personal computer8221; to its conclusion.

From an editorial in the July 27 issue of 8216;Economist8217;